The effect of health literacy on medication adherence in hypertensive elderly

This study was conducted to determine the effect of health literacy on medication compliance in hypertensive elderly. The population of this descriptive study consisted of hypertensive individuals who were hospitalized in the internal affairs and surgical clinics of Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University İzzet Baysal Training and Research Hospital between 20.02/31.12.2022. The sample of the study consisted of 202 participants who met the inclusion criteria during the study. The data were obtained by face-to-face interview technique using the "Descriptive Characteristics Form", "Disease and Drug Use Information Form", "Antihypertensive Medication Adherence Scale" and "Turkey Health Literacy Scale - 32 (TSOY-32)". According to the research findings, the average age of the participants was 72.05±5.23 years, 57.9% were women, 75.7% were married, 77.7% had primary school or higher education, and 55% were housewife. It was determined that only 3% of the participants had sufficient health literacy level. A statistically significant difference was found between gender, marital status, education level, occupation, perceived income level, cohabitants and health literacy scores. (p<0.05). It was determined that 72.8% of the participants were compatible with antihypertensive treatment. A statistically significant difference was found between gender, education level and scores on the scale of compliance with antihypertensive treatment (p<0.05). It was determined that the health literacy level of the participants had a statistically significant and negative effect on compliance with antihypertensive treatment (p<0.05).