The prevalence of hypertension (HTN) of adults aged ≥ 40 years in Cambodia was high (35.2%) in 2020 and only one-third achieved well-control. Effective HTN management strategies are needed but with focus on some key potential factors related to the poor adherence to medication treatment. Social support, especially from family members, is considered as a potential factor determining medication adherence; however, evidence remains inconsistent with limited research conducted in Asia. Therefore, we assessed the role of social support on HTN medication adherence in Cambodia to get a better understanding of the role of social support from family members in HTN management. We performed a population-based survey in 2020 among individuals aged ≥ 40 years and included 948 patients who were in-treatment in this study. Further key information was collected on adherence using the Medication Adherence Self-Report Scale (MARS-5) and family social support with eight-item modified Medical Outcomes Study Social Support (mMOS-SS) scale. Descriptive statistics were used to present the basic characteristics of the respondents. Chi-square test was used for the bivariate analysis of factors for medication adherence. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the association between family social support and HTN medication adherence while controlling for some potential covariates. Among the 948 study participants, 43.5% reported non-adherence and 56.5% reported adherence to HTN treatment. For family social support, 19.7% reported poor level, 31.3% reported fair level, and 49.9% reported good level of support. Of those with adherence to HTN treatment, 29.2% had fair level of family social support, and 54.1% had good level of family social support. Unadjusted odd ratios (OR) from the univariate analysis showed a significant association between HTN medication adherence and level of social support ( P = 0.001). After controlling for covariates, having a good level of family social support increased the rate of HTN medication adherence by two-fold (AOR = 2.16, 95%CI = 1.49–3.14) compared to poor level. The role of social support from family members was very positive in enhancing medication adherence among patients with HTN in Cambodia. Potential strategic interventions should include focus on establishing an intervention involving family members to provide support for HTN treatment.
Chham et al. (Wed,) studied this question.