Abstract
Background: In recent years, research on medication literacy has increased in many countries. Medication literacy in patients with essential hypertension affects the management and prognosis of hypertension.Method: This is a cross-sectional study of 147 discharged patients with essential hypertension who were treated at a tertiary hospital in Changsha, Hunan, China, between March and June 2016. The demographic and clinical data of the patients with hypertension were obtained from the medical records. The Chinese version of the Medication Literacy Questionnaire was applied to measure the medication literacy of hypertensive patients from 7 to 30 days after discharge by structured interview. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 19.0. Multiple linear regression was used to analyse the meaningful determinants of medication literacy.Results: The medication literacy of discharged patients with hypertension was poor. More than 70% of patients had no substantial knowledge of the effects and side effects of the medications they were taking, more than 30% of patients did not know the name or dose of the medication, and more than 20% of patients did not know how often to take the medication.Conclusion: It is necessary to conduct targeted health education for discharged patients with essential hypertension to reduce the risks of low medication literacy based on the determinants obtained in this study.
Highlights
Medication literacy refers to the ability of individuals to obtain, correctly understand and use medication information in order to take that medication safely and appropriately [1]
We aimed to investigate the level of medication literacy in a cohort of Chinese patients with essential hypertension discharged from the hospital and the meaningful determinants of medication literacy
Our study found that age, educational level, and length of hospital stay were independently associated with medication literacy
Summary
Medication literacy refers to the ability of individuals to obtain, correctly understand and use medication information in order to take that medication safely and appropriately [1]. Medication literacy can be used as a significant predictor of the accuracy of medication use behavior [2]. It is critical for patients with hypertension to use medicine regularly and correctly over the long term to reduce the occurrence of major cardiovascular events [3]. Medication use among patients with hypertension is often inappropriate or problematic [4]. According to the Annual Report on Cardiovascular Diseases in China in 2015, there were 270 million patients with hypertension in the country [4]. The prevalence of hypertension in Medication Literacy in Discharged Patients. Medication literacy in patients with essential hypertension affects the management and prognosis of hypertension
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