Frecuencia de la no adherencia al tratamiento farmacológico y posibles causas en pacientes hipertensos de los Centros de Salud Totoracocha y Mariano Estrella. Cuenca, 2023

Abstract

Arterial hypertension is the main modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Effective antihypertensive treatment reduces morbidity and mortality rates. Adherence to the treatment of chronic diseases is low; the WHO (OMS) places it around 50%. Failure of antihypertensive treatment has transcendental social, health and economic consequences, being a real public health problem. The general objective was to determine the frequency of non-adherence to pharmacological treatment and possible causes in hypertensive patients of the "Totoracocha" and "Mariano Estrella" Health Centers. Cuenca, 2023. The study was descriptive, cross-sectional, was made up of 170 patients from the hypertensive clubs of the "Totoracocha" (120) and "Mariano Estrella" (50) Health Centers. A form was used to characterize the study population. The Morisky-Green test was applied to measure the frequency of non-adherence to treatment and multiple-choice questions were asked to determine the causes of non-adherence. As results: the mean age was 67.2 ±11.5; 68.8% were women, 45.8% were married, 75.2% finished primary school. The frequency of nonadherence to treatment was 64.1%. The main causes were forgetting to take medication (83.49%), lack of perception of health risks (62.39%) and polypharmacy (44.95%). In conclusion, 64.1% (109) are non-adherent to treatment. Older adults presented lower adherence; most of them were women, married, and the school level was primary.