Evaluation of self-care in hypertensive adults in Edirne city center

Hypertension is an important public health problem because it is a common, treatable and preventable disease. In this study, it was aimed to determine the level of self-care and the factors affecting it in hypertensive individuals living in Edirne city centre. A total of 405 hypertensive patients aged 18 and above, registered at 23 family health centers in the city center of Edirne, were included in the study. The data for the research were obtained from a 97-item questionnaire, which included questions about sociodemographic characteristics and hypertension-related information, along with the Hypertension Self-Care Profile. Blood pressure was measured under appropriate conditions before the interview. Two hundred and fifteen of the participants (53.1%), were female and 190 (46.9%) were male. According to the Turkish Hypertension Consensus Report published in 2019, the percentage of individuals with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure values at target blood pressure was determined as 26.91%. Gender, education level, occupation, income, smoking and alcohol consumption were found to affect self-care in hypertensive patients It has been determined that self-care increases with age and duration of illness. Self-care behaviours are influenced not only by individuals' habits but also by their motivation; this helps patients to take a more active role in their health management by increasing their self-efficacy. Family Practice is very important in providing effective self-care in hypertension management. The low rate of patients at target blood pressure in our study reveals that this issue should be addressed more. Blood pressure control can be achieved by establishing an effective communication between the physician and the patient, providing appropriate counselling to the patient, establishing diet and exercise programmes with a person-centred approach, ensuring regular blood pressure follow-up and evaluating the psychosocial dimensions of the patients and providing lifestyle habits by considering the self-care habits and lifestyle of the patients as a priority. Keywords: hypertension, self-care, Family Practice