Adherence to Pharmacotherapy in Hypertensive Outpatients Attending the Hypertension Control Program in the Jorge Cristo Sahium Hospital, Norte de Santander (Colombia)

Abstract

<em><strong>Introduction</strong><em> Hypertension is a chronic disease that impairs vital organs and alters the quality of life of patients, who must remain in drug treatment with hypotensive and vasodilator medicine to control their blood pressure. <em><strong>Objective</strong><em> To determine the degree of adherence of chronic hypertensive patients to ongoing drug therapy, as well as the relationship between their habits and attitudes with this chronic disease. <em><strong>Methodology</strong><em> Through a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study based on the Morisky-Green test, a multivariate analysis of outpatients attending the hypertension control program in the Jorge Cristo Sahium Hospital, Villa del Rosario, Norte de Santander, Colombia was performed. <em><strong>Results</strong><em> The total amount of people included in the program is of 563 patients, among which a representative sample of 154 was chosen 87.34 % were women and 12.66% were men the average age was of 66.295 ± 11.393 years, and 62 (39.74%) patients completed the treatment. <em><strong>Conclusions</strong><em> The most commonly used drugs for high blood pressure were those from the antagonist pharmacological group of angiotensin II receptors (ARA II) and the angiotensin-convertingenzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors), together with diuretics and antiplatelet agents. Patients often discontinue their medications for certain periods of time, which causes their nonadherence to pharmacotherapy.