Nithin Kumar et. al. FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ADHERENCE TO ANTIHYPERTENSIVE TREATMENT AMONG PATIENTS ATTENDING A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN MANGALORE, SOUTH INDIA

Background: Adherence to antihypertensive medication is very important in preventing complications. Objectives: To assess the level of adherence of hypertensive patients to their anti-hypertensive medications and to study the various factors influencing the adherence among these patients. Methodology: 120 hypertensive patients were interviewed using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. The Morisky 8-Item Medication Adherence scale was used. Univariate and multivariate analysis was done to determine the factors associated with good adherence. Results: The mean age of study participants was 58.41 +/14.4 years. 45.8% of the participants had low level of adherence. On Univariate analysis, not experiencing any side-effects, provision of free medication and regular checkups were found to be significantly associated good adherence. None of the factors were found to be statistically associated with adherence on multivariate analysis. Conclusion: The level of adherence to treatment among the participants can be achieved through better health promotion and education strategies.