A study on usefulness of modified medication adherence scale in assessing adherence among hypertensive patients

BACKGROUND: Adherence to medication is important for control of blood pressure (BP) and prevention of its complications. Identifying factors which improve adherence to treatment helps in improving cardiovascular outcome. AIM: The aim is to study the adherence of hypertensive patients to medication using modified medication adherence scale (MMAS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was done as a cross-sectional study in the Department of General medicine in Aarupadai Veedu Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, from May 2017 to October 2017. All adult patients of both sexes diagnosed to have hypertension were included in the study after obtaining informed consent. Adherence to hypertension was assessed using MMAS and results were analyzed. SPSS 22 software (International Business Machines Corporation, Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY) was used for statistical purposes. RESULTS: A total of 150 patients were included in the study. There were 83 males and 67 females in the study. Good adherence was observed in 74 (49%) out of the total 150. Forty-nine (59%) males and 25 (37%) females were found adherent to treatment. Patients with monotherapy had a good adherence compared to those with polytherapy. Patients with good adherence had a good control of BP. CONCLUSION: MMAS is a simple and useful tool for assessing medication adherence among hypertensive patients.