Self-reported medication adherence and blood pressure control rates in patients with chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Background: Self-reporting though thought to be unreliable, is often used to assess medication adherence in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to determine self-reported medication adherence and blood pressure control rates in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of patients with CKD attending a nephrology out-patient clinic in Lagos. Recruited patients had been attending the clinic for >1 year and had >4 clinic visits. CKD was defined as glomerular filtration rate 2 , medication adherence was assessed according to the simplified medication adherence questionnaire, while target blood pressure was defined as a sitting recording Results: A total of 91 patients (50.5% female) were studied. The mean age (years) of the study population was 49.5 ΁ 13 (range 22-78). The mean glomerular filtration rate (ml/min/1.73 m 2 ) was 23.5 ΁ 16.0 (range 4-59). Overall, 61 (67%) patients were adherent while 23 (25.3%) had their blood pressures controlled to target. Control rates were similar regardless of adherence status ( P = 0.19). Adherent patients had significantly lower mean systolic blood pressures ( P P = 0.02). Conclusion: Medication adherence rates and blood pressure control rates reported here are similar to previous studies. Adherent patients were more likely to achieve systolic blood pressure targets <130 mmHg, but not diastolic blood pressure targets of <80 mmHg.