The effect of mediterranean nutrition and medication compliance on frequency of visits to emergency department and quality of life in hypertensive patients

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Mediterranean nutrition and medication adherence to frequency and quality of life in hypertensive patients. The population of the analytical study consists of 400 hypertensive patients who applied to the emergency department of a public hospital, and the sample includes 250 patients who agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected through the general information form, Modified Morisky Scale, Mediterranean Diet Quality Index (KIDMED index) and SF-36 Quality of Life Scale. Percentages, averages, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, Pearson chi-square test and Yates chi-square test were used in the evaluation of the data. The mean age of the participants is 58,90 ± 11,73 and 54,8 of them are women. The mean duration of hypertension (HT) diagnosis is 12,85 ± 10,75. The mean number of visits to HT emergency department in the last 6 months is 2,74 ± 1,86. The average number of applicants is 4,14 ± 2,74. The mean number of patients visitted to the emergency department in the last year is 5,12 ± 3,99, and the mean number of general visits is 7,26 ± 5,29. The mean score of the KIDMED Scale is 4,86 ± 2,64 and the modified Morisky Scale score is 4,14 ± 1,45. The lowest score obtained from the subscales of the quality of life scale obtained from the physical role function subscale (26,80 ± 35,23) and the highest score from the social function subscale (59,12 ± 12,86); physical dimension score is 39,84 ± 18,28, mental dimension score was 46,65 ± 14,26 and total score of the scale was 43,24 ± 15,19. It is determined that the compliance of the patients with the Mediterranean diet and compliance with the treatment do not affect the frequency of visit to the emergency department (p> 0,05). It is determined that the compliance of the patients with the Mediterranean diet and compliance with the treatment affects the quality of life (p<0,05). It is considered that increasing the compliance of the patients to the diet and treatment will increase the quality of life. It is suggested that patients should be trained to increase their compliance with diet and treatment.