Evaluation of medication adherence and its relevant factors among hypertensive patients: A cross-sectional study in Shahrekord health-care system

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Medication adherence means compliance with patient adherence to medication orders, including timely and correct consumption of medication prescribed by a physician. The present study aimed to determine the extent of adherence to hypertension drug medication in patients covered by comprehensive health service centers of Shahrekord, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study examined 401 hypertensive patients registered in the Integrated Health Record System (SIB). SIB is a Persian term related to Health Record System. To collect data, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale was used. The questionnaire was completed by the patients and analyzed using SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA, version 26), Chi-square test, independent t-test, and analysis of variance. RESULTS: The results indicated that adherence to antihypertensive medication was low in 5.7 of patients, while 63.3 of patients had sufficient compliance. Forgetting to take medications (52.9) was the most common reason for nonadherence to medication in hypertensive patients. CONCLUSION: Given that forgetting to take medications was the main reason for nonadherence to medication in hypertensive patients, designing and implementing necessary trainings by comprehensive health centers to realize the importance of daily use of medication by hypertensive patients and their families are recommended.