Medication Adherence and Blood Pressure Control among Hypertensive Patients of Pokhara Valley

Abstract

Hypertension is a chronic medical condition which remains inadequately managed everywhere. Medication adherence (MA) is a critical parameter for achieving strict blood pressure (BP) control in patients undergoing antihypertensive therapy (AHT). Good MA is also a key factor determining the success of preventive measures for cardiovascular (CV) risk reduction. So, the objective of this research was to study the medication adherence and blood pressure control among hypertensive patients of Pokhara Valley. A randomized community-based prospective study was conducted in different places of Pokhara. In the study, a structured questionnaire i.e. Brief medication questionnaire (BMQ) with a high sensitivity and specificity was used. Out of 79 respondents enrolled, most of the respondents (n=51, 64.6%) were shown to be non-adherent and only 28 (35.4%) were adherent to the prescribed AHT. The study showed that among adherers, 75% were undergoing monotherapy and 64.3% (n=18) had their BP under control. The comparison between BP control and the different occupation showed that the highest percentage of BP control was achieved in housewives. Most of the respondents were non-adherent to the prescribed AHT which requires special attention of the healthcare providers.

Barriers, Enablers and Strategies for the Treatment and Control of Hypertension in Nepal: A Systematic Review

“…Out of 107 full-text articles that we assessed, 95 had either ineligible outcomes such as pulmonary hypertension, were conducted among non-hypertensive or non-Nepali participants, or were reviews, case reports or conference abstracts. We did the forward and backward citation tracking for the remaining 12 studies and identified two additional records ( 46 , 47 ). One additional study eligible report was identified on the Nepalese Government website.…”

“…No additional eligible studies were found in Nepalese journals and on websites of Nepali professional and regulatory organisations, and national and international agencies. Finally, we included 15 studies (32,(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59) for qualitative synthesis (Figure 2). None of the studies were included in the quantitative synthesis of effect sizes because of the significant differences in their aims, methods, interventions/exposures, and outcome measures.…”

“…More than half of the studies were completed in 2015 or later. Ten studies assessed the barriers and enablers of hypertension treatment and control (32,46,47,(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59). Of these, three studies applied qualitative methods (32,54,55), six used quantitative methods (46,47,53,(57)(58)(59), and one was conducted using mixed methods (56).…”

“…Ten studies assessed the barriers and enablers of hypertension treatment and control (32,46,47,(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59). Of these, three studies applied qualitative methods (32,54,55), six used quantitative methods (46,47,53,(57)(58)(59), and one was conducted using mixed methods (56). The majority of these studies investigated hypertension treatment as an outcome of interest (Supplementary Table 6).…”

Theory-based mobile phone text messaging intervention for blood pressure control (TEXT4BP) among hypertensive patients in Nepal: study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial

“… 10 In Nepal, controlled blood pressure among hypertensive patients varies by geographical region and ranges from 35% 11 to 49% 12 in the Central Development Region and only 15% in the Western Development Region of Nepal. 13 Studies in Nepal have shown that self-reported adherence to antihypertensive medication varies from 35.4% to 64.3%, 14–16 leading to many complications.…”