The Knowledge of Blood Pressure Measurement Affecting Medication Adherence in Patients with Hypertension

Purpose:

To determine whether  a relationship existed between the knowledge of blood pressure measurement  and adherence to medications among hypertensive patients.

Methods:

• Data from a longitudinal study investigating  the effect of 16-week self-blood-pressure monitoring intervention program among hypertensive patients.
• Subjects were recruited from outpatient clinics of a medical center and a community health service center.  
• All participants completed the Knowledge of Blood Pressure Measurement Scale (KBPM scale) and the Health Behaviors Scale which consists of  four subscales (i.e., diet control behavior, exercise behavior, scheduled appointments, and medication adherence) .
• Descriptive statistics and multivariate  linear  regression were used for data analyses.

Results:

Two hundred and sixty respondents with mean age of 63.7 were enrolled. The average score of KBPM and medication adherence were 9.1 and 17.6, respectively. After adjusting for living area, female gender, age, educational level, and health behaviors, higher knowledge of blood pressure measurement  was associated with better medication adherence (p< .01).

Conclusion:

The result of the current study suggests that the knowledge of blood pressure measurement  is an independent predictor of adherence to medications in hypertensive patients. Further investigation into this relation is warranted.