Factors that interfere the medication compliance in hypertensive patients

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the factors that interfere in drug treatment compliance in a group of individuals with arterial hypertension. METHODS: A non-experimental descriptive study that analyzed a sample of 80 patients diagnosed with arterial hypertension, who underwent medical treatment and were admitted to a university hospital during the period from March to May 2009. To collect data, the Instrument for Evaluation of Attitudes Regarding Taking Medication was applied. RESULTS: In the studied population, 45.1% had sufficient degree of compliance to drug therapy. Individuals with controlled blood pressure, females, white, single, married or widowed, retired, aged between 40 and 59 years, and those aged above 80 years were the interviewees who answered positively regarding compliance and follow-up of drug therapy. CONCLUSION: Despite the fact that the number of factors that facilitate the process of compliance to drug treatment is greater than the number of complicating factors, we found that more than half of the patients surveyed had an insufficient degree of compliance with drug treatment for high blood pressure, which demonstrates the need to develop studies aimed to identify these factors and their contribution to the promotion of patient autonomy, acceptance, awareness and adaptation regarding their illness.