Alicia K. Sahuanay-Siu, Facultad de Medicina Humana Manuel Huamán Guerrero, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Perú
Introduction: High blood pressure is still a public health problem due to its complications and high mortality. It has been seen that poor adherence to treatment affects quality of life and consumes resources in medical care. The aim of this study was to identify which factors are associated with non-adherence. Method: Surveys were carried out on patients evaluated on an outpatient basis at a hospital in Lima. The degree of adherence was determined and analyzes were performed to identify which factors were significantly associated with adherence. Results: Of 335 patients surveyed, 61.5% (n = 206) were classified as non-adherent. Of them, 56.3% (n = 116) were under 69 years of age, 56.8% (n = 117) were women, and 48.1% (n = 99) had technical or higher educational level. In the multivariate analysis, the following significant associations were found: subjects under 69 years of age (aPR: 1.41; 95%CI: 1.189-1.672), male sex (aPR: 0.78; 95%CI: 0.66-0.927), and use of two or more of drugs (PRa: 0.583; 95%CI: 0.498-0.683). Conclusions: In this study, young age, female sex, use of a single drug and shorter duration of illness were associated with poor adherence to antihypertensive treatment. Differences compared to findings in other cohorts should be explored in depth.
Keywords: Arterial hypertension. Polypharmacy. Treatment adherence.