Compliance with treatment of patients with hypertension in Almadinah Almunawwarah: A community-based study

ObjectiveThe success of long-term maintenance therapy for hypertension depends largely on the patient’s compliance with a therapeutic plan. The objective of this study was to determine the compliance with treatment of hypertensive patients attending primary health care centres in Almadinah Almunawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was adopted, with cluster random sampling. Sociodemographic data and subjective information were collected at interviews and clinical data by reviewing patients’ medical records.ResultsThe total mean percentage score for compliance was 35.1%. The best compliance was with electrocardiography and Doppler scanning, followed by laboratory investigations; the worst compliance was with exercise. In general, patients showed poor compliance with exercise and dietary regimes. The factors that affected patients’ compliance were their sex, level of education, work status, smoking habits, self-reported response to medications and their perception of hypertension. A satisfactory patient–physician relationship was reported by only 14.4% of patients with fair-to-good compliance; 83.0% of patients with associated co-morbidity had poor compliance.ConclusionA healthy lifestyle, patient education, family counselling and social support networks should be strengthened in health promotion programmes in order to enhance compliance of hypertensive patients with the therapeutic regimen and to improve their quality of life.