Abstract:
Background: Medication adherence is essential in the treatment of chronic conditions such as hypertension. In Tanzania little is known about adherence status to antihypertensive medications and its associated factors
Aim of the study: This study aimed to identify factors associated withadherence to antihypertensive medication among the patients with hypertension attending Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study design. About 379 hypertensive patients who were prescribed one or more regular antihypertensive medications for least a month were recruited in the study using simple random sampling. Self-reporting method of the 8 items Morisky Medication adherence scale was used to measure medication adherence. SPSS software computer program version 20 was used to enter and analyze data. Descriptive statistic was used. Associations of variables with medication adherence were determined by using the chi-square test and logistic regression.
Results: The proportion of antihypertensive drug adherence among hypertensive patients was 55.40%. Use of traditional medicine (AOR=0.08, 95% CI=0.04-0.18), having belief that prayers can cure hypertension (AOR=0.15, 95% CI= 0.09-0.27), having health insurance (AOR=2.97, 95 %CI=1.07-8.30) and unsatisfactory interactions with pharmacy service (AOR=0.57, 95 %CI= 0.33-0.98) were significantly associated with adherence to antihypertensive medications. Levels of education had statistically significant associations with medication adherence but complex, respondents who had primary education (AOR= 2.08, 95%CI=1.08-4.03) and college/university (AOR=3.11, 95%CI= 1.38-7.00) had greater adherence than respondents who had secondary education.
Conclusion: Use of traditional medicine, having individual beliefs that prayer can cure hypertension, having health insurance, and unsatisfactory experiences with pharmacy service associating with poor adherence to antihypertensive medications. To improve hypertension control, these factors should be considered.
