Prevalence of non-compliance among patients with hypertension (htn) attending al jaffar general hospital in al ahsa region of saudi arabia: 2019

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to measure non-compliance and the factors contributing to non-compliance among the hypertensive patients attending the chronic clinic of Al Jaffar Hospital of Al Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Al Ahsa district of Saudi Arabia. All the hypertensive patients who were attending the chronic disease clinic of Al jaffar hospital and were getting medication on regular basis were the study population. Random sampling was carried out for the selection of 282 hypertensive patients from chronic OPD of Al Jaffar hospital. The data were collected by means of interviewing questionnaires and file records. Any patient who had been prescribed optimum treatment and was properly advised on diet and exercise for his / her hypertension, but did not follow the medical advice and whose hypertension level on the higher side of the normal at the time of interview, was considered as non-compliant.
Results: The overall prevalence of therapeutic non-compliance, that is, Blood pressure of 120-140/80-90 with the optimum treatment among the participants was 54 % (n =, 95% CI 51.59 - 58.02%). Factors found to be significantly associated with non-compliance on hypertensive treatment on bivariate analysis were male gender (OR=1.76,CI=1.32-2.32), education level (Literacy) (OR = 2.3, CI = 3.63-4.19),, irregularity of follow up (OR = 6.41, CI = 3.90-9.92),, non -adherence to instruction on exercise (OR = 4.55,CI = 3.2 6-5.86), multiple drug regimen for hypertension (OR = 1.29, CI = .71-1.87), Age, marital status, duration of hypertension, associated chronic disease, were not significantly associated with non-compliance. Compliance with the treatment was better among the patients who attended the clinic on the day of appointment (OR=0.5, CI=0.2-0.8) and non-compliance was more among the patients who did not attend the clinic due to forgetfulness followed by non-availability of transport and those who thought it unnecessary as they were taking medicine from other source (62.00,%,66.7% and 60% respectively, p=0.03)Patient-doctor interaction factors, such as, the patients' perception of the physician’s understanding of their health problems were not significantly associated with the compliance rate
Conclusion: The findings indicate that there is a high rate of non-compliance among the hypotensive patients attending the chronic clinic of Al Jaffar hospital Al Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia and there is necessity for improvement in the healthcare system, health education, and training of hypertensive patients.