Abstract
Objective: Factors preventing optimal blood pressure control exist at the patient, physician, and health system levels. This study aimed at identifying patient-related factors in the control of hypertension among adults with hypertension in a rural Primary Care clinic in South-West Nigeria. Design and method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of patients with a diagnosis of hypertension and on antihypertensive medication, accessing care at the Primary care clinic of Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, Nigeria. Consenting patients who met the inclusion criteria were serially recruited and studied with a structured questionnaire. The Morisky medication adherence scale (MMAS-4) was incorporated into the questionnaire alongside socio-demographic information and hypertension history questions. Anthropometry, blood pressure, pulse and respiratory rates were also measured. Data was analyzed using the SPSS® version 16 software. Results: Of the 235 respondents, 46.0% were males and 54.0% were females. The mean age was 45.7 ± 17.1 years, with a diagnosis of hypertension for a mean duration of 4.2 ± 2.2 years. Nearly half of the respondents had good blood pressure control (42.6%), while 33.1% and 24.3%, respectively, had stage I and stage II hypertension according to the JNC VII criteria. Low medication adherence was found in 59.8 % of the respondents. This level of adherence was adduced to the following reasons: lack of funds to procure medications (44.0%), ‘faith healing’-Pronouncements by spiritual leaders (20.4%), use of herbal remedies (14.3%), forgetfulness (10.2%), wrongly perceived seriousness of the condition (4.7%) and side effects of medication (4.3%). Conclusions: Medication adherence was poor among the respondents. Given the patient-related reasons stated for this, concerted efforts needs to be intensified to adequately educate patients on the need to stay adherent. Also, the need for provision of quality generic medications at a reduced cost cannot be overemphasized. Abstract Type: Oral or Poster Abstract Submission No.: PN-2114
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