Revista Gestão & Saúde (Jan 2011)
Treatment related problems perception for people with systemic hypertension
Abstract
This descriptive study with qualitative approach aimed to assess the perception of people withhigh blood pressure (hypertension), about the difficulties stemming from the treatment ofhypertension. The study included seven individuals diagnosed with hypertension for at least 5years, living in an area covered by the Family Health Strategy, in Várzea Grande city - MT.Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews. We used the CollectiveSubject Discourse to organize the data and the theory of social representations as theoretical.The analysis was done by identifying common sense, highlighting the social representationsthat anchor the knowledge, experiences and needs of hypertensive patients in need ofattention from health professionals. The results showed that hypertensive patients havedifficulty to drug treatment, change in lifestyle, fear of complications of hypertension and thatthere are deficiencies in the health service. The final considerations reveal the need for jointactions that contribute to adherence to treatment of hypertension, such as improvements in theprovision of service, co-responsibility and establishing a relationship on the part of thehealthcare team to reflect in the users’ quality of life.