Why the study?
The study was conducted to assess adherence to antihypertensive treatment among patients at a Family Health Strategy unit.
Simplification of therapeutic regimens and promotion of regular physical activity are key modifiable factors to improve antihypertensive medication adherence in primary care.
Socioeconomic barriers and regimen complexity associate with poor antihypertensive adherence in Brazilian primary care; leaves open whether targeting modifiable factors improves control.
Objective: To assess adherence to antihypertensive treatment in patients at a Family Health Strategy (FHS) unit. Methods: quantitative, transversal, and observational study with 131 hypertensive patients registered in the HIPERDIA program of an FHS located in the city of Lagarto, Sergipe, Brazil, through the analysis of medical records and the application of structured questionnaires. The assessment of the degree of adherence was carried out through the Brief Medication Questionnaire. Results: Factors related to poor adherence were illiteracy (PR: 0.61; 95%CI: 0.42 - 0.89), per capita family income < 1 minimum wage (PR: 0.51; 95%CI : 0.33 - 0.78) and high pharmacological complexity (PR: 0.66; 95%CI: 0.45 - 0.97), while only regular physical activity (PR: 2.64; 95%CI: 1.28 - 5.46) and a good quality of life (PR: 1.44; 95%CI: 1.02 - 2.04) remained positively associated with adherence. Conclusion: As these are modifiable factors, the simplification of the therapeutic scheme and the regular practice of physical activity are key points for increasing adherence to the treatment of systemic arterial hypertension in Primary Care.
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Araújo et al. (2022) studied this question.
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