The relationship between adherence to medication treatment, rational drug use and health literacy in elderly hypertension patients

Aim: This study was conducted to determine the relationship between medication adherence, rational drug use and health literacy in elderly hypertensive patients. Material and Method: The descriptive correlational study was conducted between January 01, 2024 and February 01, 2025 on elderly hypertension patients who applied to the Cardiology Outpatient Clinic of Ankara Gülhane Training and Research Hospital. The population of the study consisted of elderly hypertension patients who applied to the cardiology outpatient clinic, and the sample consisted of 370 elderly hypertension patients who met the research criteria. The data were collected using the "Patient Information Form", "Rational Drug Use Scale", "Self-Afficacy Scale for Medication Adherence" and "Health Literacy Scale". The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis H test, Dunn test, Spearman's rho correlation coefficient and Robust Regression test. Institutional permission and ethics committee approval were obtained for the study. Results: In the study, the mean score of the "Rational Drug Use Scale" was 33.87±3.75, the mean score of the "Medication Adherence Self-Afficacy Scale" was 39.77±9.2 and the mean score of the "Health Literacy Scale" was 26.02±8.45. In the study, it was determined that a one unit increase in the "Rational Drug Use Scale" score increased the "Medication Therapy Adherence Self-Afficacy Scale" score by 0.240 units (p=0.019) and a one unit increase in the "Health Literacy Scale" score increased the "Medication Therapy Adherence Self-Afficacy Scale" score by 0.288 units (p<0.001). Conclusions: In the study, it was determined that the levels of rational drug use, medication adherence and health literacy of elderly hypertensive patients were moderate. It was found that as the rational drug use and health literacy of elderly hypertensive patients increased, their compliance with drug therapy increased. Keywords: Elderly, hypertension, rational drug use, medication adherence, health literacy, nursing.