PS-P09-8: ADHERENCE TO NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT AMONG HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Abstract

Objective: Hypertension is a leading cause of death and disability globally, along with increasing comorbidity. It is a major public health challenge in both developing and developed countries. The non-pharmacological management is one of the most effective measures to prevent and control the hypertension, while the non-pharmacological management of hypertension includes adoption of Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension plans (DASH), exercise, moderate alcohol consumption and smoking cessation. Nonetheless, less emphasis has been placed on the non-pharmacological management compared with treating hypertension with medication. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess the adherence to non-pharmacological management among hypertensive patients. Design and method: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 hypertensive patients from March to May, 2022. All adult patients (> 18 years) diagnosed with essential hypertension and met inclusion criteria were recruited. The study participants were selected using a convenient sampling technique. The data were collected by an interviewer administered standard structured questionnaire which was adopted from published literature, data were processed using the software Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Binary logistic regression model (AOR, 95% CI and P- value < 0.05) was also used to determine the significant associations between dependent variables and independent variables. Result: A total of 250 participants, 129 (51.6%) were females, 121 (48.4%) were males, 118 (47.2%) were > 55 years old, 140 (56.0%) graduated from university and 200 (80.0%) were married. The adherence to non-pharmacological management (diet, exercise, smoking cessation and being non-alcohol consumer) percentage was 25.2%. Out of all participants; 47.6% were adherent to the diet, 46.4% were adherent to exercise, 76.4% were adherent to smoking cessation and 96.4% were non-alcohol consumers. The variables associated with adherence to diet were university education and marriage (AOR 0.30; 95% CI: 0.09- 0.92), (AOR 0.23; 95% CI: 0.06- 0.81) respectively. The variables associated with adherence to exercise were being male and no comorbidities (AOR 0.34; 95% CI: 0.18- 0.64), (AOR 1.10; 95% CI: 0.37- 3.23) respectively. The variables associated with adherence to non-pharmacological management were duration of hypertension > 20 years (AOR 3.50; 95% CI: 1.01- 12.19) and good knowledge about hypertension (AOR 0.03; 95% CI: 0.11- 0.45). Conclusion: The study revealed that the majority of hypertensive patients are not adherent to non-pharmacological management. Therefore, more effort should be directed to increase knowledge about non-pharmacological management and draw attention to its importance.