Drug compliance among hypertensive patients in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Hypertension contributes significantly to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Adequate blood pressure control would therefore reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, however adequate blood pressure control requires good treatment compliance. METHODS: One hundred consecutive patients aged 30-79 years attending the cardiac clinic of the medical out-patients clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital were directly questioned about compliance with their antihypertensive drugs and results entered into the questionnaire designed for the study. RESULTS: Compliance was good in sixty percent (60%) of respondents, fair in twenty nine percent (29%) and poor in eleven percent (11%). Compliance was also found to be good in sixty-seven percent (67%) of patients with tertiary education, good in forty one percent (41%) of those with primary education. Compliance was good in seventy four percent (74%) of those taking one drug, good in only thirty three percent (33%) of those taking four drugs. Patients taking single daily dose drugs had good compliance in seventy percent (70%), twice daily dosing had good compliance in fifty five percent (55%) and among those taking thrice daily dosage, compliance was good in only seventeen percent (17%). CONCLUSION: The study shows that good compliance with anti-hypertensive therapy is best achieved with monotherapy given as single dosage. It also shows the role of education in the level of compliance.