Health Literacy and Its Association With Medication Adherence in Patients With Hypertension: A Mediating Role of Social Support

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the predictive relationship between medication adherence in light of health literacy and social support, in addition to differences in medication adherence according to different demographic characteristics. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 450 hypertensive patients visiting primary care facilities in Babil Governorate were included. A questionnaire including sociodemographic information, the Morisk medication adherence scale, the social support rating scale, and the health literacy management scale were used in this study. Data were collected and SPSS software, version 20 was used for analysis after ensuring the validity and reliability of the study tools. Results: The findings showed that social support (74.9%) and treatment adherence (75.6%) were at a low level, whereas health literacy (67.8%) was at a high level. Health literacy (β=-0.708; P=0.001) and social support (β=0.220; P=0.001) were predictive factors for medication adherence. Based on gender, marital status, educational attainment, monthly income, and the length of hypertension, the results showed statistically significant differences in the level of medication adherence (P=0.001). Discussion: Enhancing medication adherence in hypertensive patients is essential. The level of health literacy and social support directly and indirectly affect treatment adherence. Therefore, these aspects should be considered as effective interventions to improve medication adherence in this group of individuals suffering from chronic diseases.

Keywords

• health literacy
• medication adherence
• hypertension
• social support