The causes of low adherence in patients with antihypertensive therapy

Abstract

Low adherence to antihypertensive therapy is a major cause of adverse cardiovascular outcomes by uncontrolled high blood pressure. If the most frequent causes of inappropriate taking of medicine are identified, possible improvements within the health care could be performed, promoting the safety and efficacy of antihypertensive therapy. The aim was to find the factors affecting patient's adherence during antihypertensive therapy. In the period from June to September 2014 a quantitative study was carried out including patients with diagnosed arterial hypertension who visited pharmacies in Riga to get the antihypertensive therapy. The study collected data of 152 patients with the mean antihypertensive treatment duration of 9.7 +/- 2.4 years. Most of the patients knew the reason for the use of the medication (n= 123, 80.8%), but it was also unclear for some patients (n= 29, 19.2%), more frequently with use of 2 or 3 medications at the same time, compared with the patients who received 4 or more medications (n= 26, 17.3% vs n= 3, 1.9%; p= 0.063). High medication load was more frequently associated with lower adherence during antihypertensive therapy. Awareness of antihypertensive therapy for an individual patient, reminders of prescribed medications and dosage instructions may contribute to adherence of patients.