TITLE:
Patient and Health System Related Factors Associated with Non-Adherence to Antihypertensive Medication among Patients at Chuka Referral Hospital, Kenya
AUTHORS:
Charity Gikunda, Lucy Gitonga, Paul Kamweru
KEYWORDS:
Hypertension, Non-Adherence, Medication, Inhibiting Factors, High Blood Pressure, Patients Characteristics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Clinical Diagnostics,
Vol.11 No.2,
May
8,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Non-adherence to hypertensive medication continues to become a contributing
factor to hypertensive complications like stroke, heart attacks, kidney disease
heart failure. Associated factors to non-adherence are complex, are both
internal and external to the patient and are difficult to extrapolate. Reports
from Chuka referral hospital records showed that in 2016 there were 140
patients with hypertensive complications from 560 patients who attended the
medical clinic that year. Objective: This study sought to explore the patient’s related factors that are
associated with non-adherence to hypertension medication. Methods: This is a descriptive study design of (N = 575)
people among them doctors, pharmacists, nurses, record officers and
hypertension patients. Simple random sampling for patients (n = 81) and
census sampling for health care workers was done and data collected using
questionnaires and interview schedules between April 4th-May 30th 2019. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis, aided
by SPSS version 25. Results: 64% of the patients stated that they had
missed medication. A significant negative correlation (rpb = -0.23, p rpb = 0.24, p rpb = -0.13, p = 0.25) and patients’ level of education (rpb = -0.06, p = 0.57). The overall model of health system related factors were found to be
significant (p p = 0.012). Conclusion: Lacks of funds, unavailability of drugs are the leading factors to
regimen completion. This could be easily be addressed by the government.