Abstract
Background In Western countries, better knowledge about patient-related determinants of treatment adherence (medication and lifestyle) is needed to improve treatment adherence and outcomes among hypertensive ethnic minority patients of African descent. Objective To identify patient-related determinants of adherence to lifestyle and medication recommendations among hypertensive African Surinamese and Ghanaian patients with suboptimal treatment results (SBP>140) living in the Netherlands and how culturally appropriate hypertension education (CAHE) influenced those determinants. Methods This study analysed data of 139 patients who participated in the CAHE trial. Univariate logistic regression analysis was used to measure the association between patient-related determinants (medication self-efficacy, beliefs about medication and hypertension, social support, and satisfaction with care) and treatment adherence. We also tested whether CAHE influenced the determinants. Results Medication self-efficacy and social support were associated with medication adherence at baseline. At six months, more medication self-efficacy and fewer concerns about medication use were associated with improved medication adherence. Self-efficacy was also associated with adherence to lifestyle recommendations at baseline. CAHE influenced patients' illness perceptions by creating more understanding of hypertension, its chronic character, and more concerns about the associated risks. Conclusion In this high-risk population, health care providers can support medication adherence by paying attention to patients' medication self-efficacy, the concerns they may have about medication use and patients' perceptions on hypertension. The CAHE intervention improved patients' perception on hypertension.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0133560 |
| Journal | PLoS One |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Aug 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2015 Meinema et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.