Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care (Jan 2022)

Predictors of adherence to prescribed antihypertensive medications among Hypertensive (15-49 years) in India: A secondary data analysis of National Family Health Survey 4

  • Mitasha Singh,
  • Kartikey Yadav,
  • Shweta Goswami,
  • Mamta Parashar,
  • Ekta Gupta,
  • Madhur Verma,
  • Sonu Goel,
  • Sumit Malhotra

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_164_22
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 9
pp. 5807 – 5814

Abstract

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Background: Adherence to medications is one of the key determinants of therapeutic control of high blood pressure and is seen as a bottleneck in our fight against hypertension control. We have little scientific evidence from India that highlights the determinants of treatment adherence. Aim: The purpose of this study was to identify the predictor adherence to the currently prescribed antihypertensive medications. Material and Methods: We did a secondary data analysis of the National Family Health Survey, 2015-2016 datasets. As there were no direct variables to measure adherence, this was derived from the responses to the survey question: “currently taking a prescribed hypertensive medication to lower Blood Pressure” among those already diagnosed as hypertensives by the physician. The other sociodemographic and household-level variables were used as independent variables for analysis. Results: The level of awareness about their hypertensive status among the 15–49-year-olds who were subjected to blood pressure measurement was 9.34% (70,267/80,3081). Of these, 70,267 participants, 65878 with valid hypertensive individual data were included in the final analysis. Among them, 26.78% are currently adhering to antihypertensive medication. Female gender (adj OR; 95% CI: 1.17 [1.09–1.24]) and non-reserved caste ([OR] 1.24; 95% [CI]: 1.18–1.32) depicted better adherence to the current treatment. The hypertensives who preferred taking treatment from shops or at home or some other place in comparison to health facilities had a significant association with adherence (adj OR: 1.64; 95% CI: [1.43–1.88]). Conclusion: The current study reported low adherence to the current antihypertensive medication. Gender, higher age group, obesity, and place of taking the treatment were strongly associated with adherence to treatment.

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