Impact of patient knowledge on hypertension treatment adherence and efficacy: A single-centre study in Poland

Abstract

Introduction: Recent studies show that treatment of arterial hypertension is unsuccessful. This is due to the patients' insufficient knowledge of about the therapeutic methods and the consequences of not treating arterial hypertension. Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the patients' knowledge concerning therapeutic options, prophylaxis, and complications of arterial hypertension. The study also assessed the effect of such knowledge on hypertension treatment adherence and efficacy. Patients and Methods: The survey included 488 patients (250 female and 238 male), aged over 18 years, diagnosed with and treated in outpatient and inpatient settings at selected healthcare institutions in Poland. A custom-made questionnaire, based on references on this subject, was the key tool in the present study. Information about the course of the disease and evaluation of hypertension treatment efficacy was based on the patients' medical records. Results: The study found that 54.7% of the subjects had good knowledge about arterial hypertension, 40.0% had average knowledge, and 5.3% had poor knowledge. The extent of knowledge about the disease was significantly dependent on the level of education and the place of receiving medical care (p< 0.05). Good knowledge was significantly associated with controlled blood pressure, number of antihypertensive drugs used, frequency of hospitalization, as well as with medication adherence, and healthy lifestyle behaviours (p< 0.05). Conclusions: More than half of the patients presented good knowledge but a large group still had poor knowledge, especially patients with a low level of education and with hypertension treated at a general practitioner's clinic. The results of our study clearly show that knowledge about arterial hypertension affects medication adherence and healthy lifestyle behaviours and improves hypertension treatment efficacy.

Level of antihypertensive medication adherence and knowledge about the disease in Saudi Arabia

“…Contrary to these reports, a study conducted in Sri Lanka (Pirasath et al, 2017), showed that 69.9% of the patients with hypertension demonstrated adequate knowledge, however, 40.5% were unaware of the status of their disease. This has been concurred by Paczkowska et al, (2021) who reported that while most patients have sufficient general knowledge about HTN, however, 77% were unaware of their systolic blood pressure at the time of diagnosis and 75% exhibited the same at the last visit to their physician. The lack of knowledge about the disease could play a big factor in the treatment outcome of the disease.…”

“…According to our data, there have been multiple predictors of increased knowledge being identified including older age group, gender female, being married, being more educated, higher income, following educational medical programs, being a non-smoker, 5 years or more HTN duration, and treatment medication, a family history of HTN, and regular doctor visit. In Poland (Paczkowska et al, 2021), a study finds that the level of education and the place of receiving medical care were significantly associated with the extent of knowledge about HTN, and a good knowledge level was concomitant with having controlled blood pressure, a number of antihypertensive drugs used, frequency of hospitalization as well as with medication adherence and healthy lifestyle behavior while age, BMI, place of residence as well as the duration of the disease did not significantly influence patient's level of knowledge.…”

Exploring Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity in Korean Older Patients with Hypertension: Photovoice Inquiry

“…To them, hypertension was perceived as a mild chronic disease requiring only medication. This greatly increased the possibility of other health complications, as mentioned earlier [ 51 ]. Second, about “A negative reference group”, some older adults who participated in this study had negative influences from those around them.…”

The Impact of Health Policy on Patients’ Awareness of the Risks Associated with Obesity: An International Multicenter Study in Poland and Germany

“… 27 The study previously conducted by the authors of the present research showed that appropriate knowledge about arterial hypertension impacts medication adherence and healthy lifestyle behaviors and improves hypertension treatment efficacy. 28 …”