Related Experiment Videos
[Factors involved in noncompliance with pharmacological treatment in arterial hypertension]
Objectives:
To find the amount of non-compliance with medical treatment for Hypertension and its causes, and to describe the profile of non-compliant patients.
Design:
A crossover study performed on two home visits.
Setting:
A rural Health Centre at Calpe, Alicante.
Patients:
The sample was obtained from the census of medically treated hypertense patients. 174 of the 200 patients chosen completed the study.
Measurements And Main Results:
Compliance was evaluated by a surprise count of pills in the patient's home. Patients complying between 80 and 110% were considered compliant. There was 47.7% non-compliance (C.I. 95%: 40.3-55.1), with 31% under-compliers and 16.7% over-compliers. Lack of information (39.8%) and forgetfulness (28.9%) were the most common causes of non-compliance.
Conclusions:
A high amount of non-compliance was shown, including an important number of over-compliers. Its causes were defined along with other reasons predicting non-compliance.