The Hypertensive Patient and the Commitment to Comply with Medical Treatment

Abstract

The Systemic Arterial Hypertension (SAH), one of the major chronic non-communicable diseases that afflict modern life, is a public health problem that disproportionately affects developed and developing countries, which can usually start at a reproductive age, it also shortens life expectancy and its lack of control can increase a precarious quality of life. However, despite the fact that the association between compliance with pharmacological treatment and the greater degree of control of chronic diseases is currently known, the way patients face their disease, due to the fact that hypertension rarely produces symptoms, lessens the fulfillment of their treatment due to ignorance, oblivion or little interest on behalf of the doctor or the null capacity in this problem of public health that leads to have no control of blood pressure readings. This is why the behavior of people can play an important role in this change, thereby achieve reducing the main complications, and even have a higher quality of life, if the patient is duly committed to the new lifestyle that the disease demands.

Keywords

• compliance
• adherence
• hypertension
• patient
• medical treatment