Nonadherence to antihypertensive medications and associated factors in general medicine clinics

• Published in: Patient preference and adherence Vol. 2016; no. Issue 1; pp. 1415 - 1419
• Main Authors: Al Ghobain M, Alhashemi H, Aljama A, Bin Salih S, Assiri Z, Alsomali A, Mohamed G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 01-08-2016
• Subjects: hypertension; Non-adherence; Saudi; uncontrolled blood pressure
• ISSN: 1177-889X; 1177-889X

Mohammed Al Ghobain,1,2 H Alhashemi,1,2 A Aljama,3 S Bin Salih,1,2 Z Assiri,4 A Alsomali,4 Gamal Mohamed5 1Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, 2King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre, 3Department of Medicine, King Abdulaziz Medical City, 4College of Nursing, 5College of Public Health, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Objectives: Nonadherence to antihypertensive medications has not been assessed in the Saudi population. The aim of this study was to address and evaluate the magnitude of nonadherence among hypertensive patients and the risk factors associated with it. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on hypertensive patients who attended the general internal medicine clinics at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using a questionnaire that was modified after reviewing the literature. Hypertensive patients were labeled as nonadherent if they missed their medications for a total of 7days during the previous month. Results: A total of 302 patients participated in the study, of whom 63% were females with a mean age of 64years, and 64% were illiterate. The prevalence of nonadherence to medications among hypertensive patients was found to be 12.3%. Poor disease knowledge was reported in 80% of patients, while 66% of the patients had poor monitoring of their disease. Younger age (≤65years), poor monitoring, and uncontrolled blood pressure (BP ≥140/90mmHg) were the predictor factors associated with nonadherence (odds ratio [OR] =2.04, P=0.025; OR=2.39, P=0.004; and OR=2.86, P=0.003, respectively). Conclusion: Nonadherence to antihypertensive medications is lower than that previously reported in the literature. Younger age, uncontrolled BP, and poor monitoring are the main risk factors associated with nonadherence. Keywords: nonadherence, hypertension, Saudi Arabia, uncontrolled blood pressure