Scales for assessing medication adherence in patients with hypertension

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Clinical Research
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Assessing medication adherence is crucial but challenging in scientific research.
• Validated tools are needed to accurately measure adherence in diverse patient populations.
• The reliability of existing adherence scales in the Greek language requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• Translate and validate the Hill-Bone and A-14 medication adherence scales into Greek.
• Evaluate the reliability and internal consistency of these translated scales in hypertensive patients.
• Compare the responses obtained from the Hill-Bone, A-14, and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) in Greek patients.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study conducted in Athens, Greece, from February to March 2016.
• Participants included 34 hypertensive and 34 non-hypertensive patients.
• Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for each scale.

Main Results:

• In hypertensive patients, Cronbach's alpha was 0.76 (Hill-Bone), 0.64 (MMAS), and 0.91 (A-14).
• In non-hypertensive patients, Cronbach's alpha was 0.81 (MMAS) and 0.78 (A-14).
• Statistically significant differences were observed in mean scale scores, with strong correlations found only between similarly worded items.

Conclusions:

• The translated Hill-Bone, A-14, and MMAS scales demonstrate appropriate reliability for assessing medication adherence in Greek hypertensive patients.
• Ensuring careful and culturally sensitive translation of adherence scales is essential for accurate interpretation of results.
• The A-14 scale exhibited the highest internal consistency among hypertensive patients in this study.