Social support and management of hypertension in south-west Nigeria

INTRODUCTION: Social support can facilitate compliance or adherence to recommended treatment regimens, especially for chronic disease management. There is little data from Africa on the role of social support in the management of chronic disease. OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated the relationship between social support for treatment compliance among hypertensive subjects in a poor urban community in southwest Nigeria. A second objective was identifying the correlates of social support in the study sample. METHODS: The study was a community-based, cross-sectional and descriptive study of 440 community residents (mean age 60 years, 65.2% women) from Idikan community, Ibadan, Nigeria who had hypertension. RESULTS: Most subjects (~ 93%) reported receiving some social support from family members and approximately 55% reported receiving social support from friends. Social support from friends (p < 0.0001) but not from family (p = 0.162) was significantly associated with good compliance with treatment for hypertension. Factors associated with receiving significant support from both family and friends included marital status and religion, while age and educational level were associated with receiving significant support from family members only. Gender was not significantly associated with receiving social support. CONCLUSION: We concluded that social support is strongly associated with hypertension treatment compliance in this community in south-west Nigeria. These findings suggest a need for exploring the promotion of social support as a useful tool in chronic disease treatment programmes.