OBJECTIVES: One reason for this is lack of adherence to therapy. Our aim was to assess medication adherence in adult hypertensive patients and to understand the factors influencing this, including health behaviour, disease perception and the association between these variables.

METHODS: Our research was quantitative, cross-sectional and descriptive, with data collected online between February and March 2021. Patients over 45 years of age taking antihypertensive drugs were selected using purposive, non-random sampling (N=164). We excluded those who were unable to complete the questionnaire due to their mental health condition and those with at least 10% incomplete questionnaires. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, the MMAS-8, and the BIPQ. Descriptive statistics, two-sample t-test, χ2-test, ANOVA, and linear regression were performed. The level of significance was p<0.05. SPSS 26.0 and Excel 2016 software were used to perform the calculations.

RESULTS: The mean age of the 164 respondents was 54.65±7.774 years, with a higher proportion of women (82.9%). 65.8% of the respondents declared themselves to be at least moderately therapeutic. Treatment adherence was significantly associated with regular blood pressure measurement (p<0.05), but not with disease experience (p>0.05). Negative health behaviour, such as avoidance of disease-specific diets, was significantly associated with more positive disease experience (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The compliance rate of the respondents is rather good, but the proportion of non-adherents is still high. Regular follow-up of therapy at home has a positive impact on the therapy adherence.