Investigation of drug compliance levels of patients with hypertension in Iraq

In hypertension management, medication adherence is an important component of blood pressure control. The aim of this study was to determine the medication adherence levels of hypertension patients. The study was conducted between August and November 2023 at Imam As-Sadiq Hospital with 200 hypertension patients who met the sampling criteria. It was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. Data were collected using a patient sociodemographic characteristics form, a clinical and medical information form, and the Medication Adherence Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (MASES-SF). The data were processed and analyzed using the SPSS 25.0 program package, and descriptive statistical methods (number, percentage, min-max values, mean and standard deviation) were used. For the comparison of quantitative data in normally distributed data, the Mann Whitney U test was used for the difference between two independent groups, the Kruskal Wallis H test was used for the comparison of more than two independent groups and Bonferroni correction was used to find the group that made a difference. The statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. Of the participants, 32% were between 48 and 57 years of age and 54% were male. The mean Medication Adherence Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form score of the participants was 33.02, and 50.5% had moderate medication adherence. A significant difference was found between medication adherence levels and the patient's age, number of children, education level, monthly income, residence status and occupation. It was also concluded that blood pressure level, BMI and having a chronic disease affected medication compliance. It is recommended that special rehabilitation programs should be prepared for hypertension patients who are diagnosed early to help them cope with the disease and thus increase their level of compliance with treatment and recommendations.