Determinants of Patient's Adherence to Hypertension Medications in a Rural Population of Kancheepuram District in Tamil Nadu, South India

CONTEXT: Non-communicable diseases, no longer a disease of the rich, impose a great threat in the developing nations due to demographic and epidemiological transition. This increasing burden of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors is worrisome. Adherence to hypertension (HT) medication is very important for improving the quality of life and preventing complications of HT. AIM: To study the factors determining adherence to HT medication. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in a rural area of Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu, with a total population of around 16,005. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was carried out over a period of 6 months (February-July) using a pre-structured and validated questionnaire. All eligible participants were selected by house-to-house survey and individuals not available on three consecutive visits were excluded from the study. The questionnaire included information on demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, adherence to HT medication, blood pressure, and body mass index (BMI). Caste was classified based on Tamil Nadu Public Service commission. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data were entered in MS Excel and analyzed in SPSS version 16. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Ethical Consideration: Informed verbal consent was obtained prior to data collection. The patient's adherence to HT medication was assessed using the Morisky 4-Item Self-Report Measure of Medication-taking Behavior [MMAS-4]. RESULTS: We studied 473 hypertensive patients of which 226 were males and 247 were females. The prevalence of adherence was 24.1% (n = 114) in the study population. Respondents with regular physical activity, non-smokers and non-alcoholics were more adherent to HT medication as compared with respondents with sedentary lifestyle, smoking and alcohol intake (P < 0.005). Based on health belief model, the respondents who perceived high susceptibility, severity, benefit had better adherence compared with moderate and low susceptibility, severity, benefit.