Hypertensive user’s adherence to treatment and the interface with knowledge about the disease

• Author(s): Lima, Helder de Pádua ; Santos, Zélia Maria de Sousa Araújo ; Nascimento, Jennara Cândido do ; Caetano, Joselany Áfio
• Date: 2010
• Origin: Oasisbr
• Subject(s): Hypertension; Medication Adherence; Health Education; Patient Compliance.
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

The aim of this work was to analyze the interface between hypertensive patients’ knowledge about hypertension and the adoption of therapeutic conducts to control the disease. It was a descriptive and exploratory study developed with 400 hypertensive users registered in the Arterial Hypertension League of the Hospital of Messejana – LHAHM in Fortaleza-CE, Brazil. The data were collected from July to October 2006, through interviews, using a structured script. The results show that most users were female (67.2%), mulatto (54.7%), between 50 and 79 years old (81.8%), and 54 (13.5%) were black. The users’ knowledge on systemic arterial hypertension was based on concepts related to their design and seriousness and most did not know about the chronic and asymptomatic nature. A significant association was found between knowledge on important therapeutic conducts and hypertensive patients’ adherence to treatment.