Prevalence of Antihypertensive Medication Nonadherence and Its Determinants among Urban Hypertensive Patients in Tirupati: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55489/njcm.170720266446Keywords:
Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8), Urban areas, Medication Adherence, Antihypertensive Agents, Urban Population, Cross-Sectional Studies, blood pressure controlAbstract
Background: Poor adherence to prescribed medication contributes to uncontrolled hypertension and increases the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, renal failure, heart failure, and blindness, creating a major burden on healthcare systems. The objective was to estimate the prevalence of antihypertensive medication non-adherence among hypertensive patients in urban Tirupati and to identify factors associated with non-adherence.
Methods: This was a community-based cross-sectional study that included 280 patients with known and diagnosed hypertension who had been on antihypertensive medication for a minimum of 6 months and resided in urban areas of Tirupati. Medication adherence was assessed through the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Data regarding sociodemographic characteristics, health-related factors, and other psychological and social elements were collected.
Results: Among 280 hypertensive patients, 4.6% showed poor adherence, 6.4% moderate adherence, and 88.9% high adherence to anti-hypertensive medication. Lack of awareness about complications increased the odds of non-adherence by 4.7 times (AOR 4.696; 95% CI 1.318-16.725), while tobacco users had 3.5 times higher odds of non-adherence (AOR 3.487; 95% CI 1.216-10.004).
Conclusions: Most hypertensive patients showed high adherence to treatment, with 11.1% being non-adherent. Non-adherence was significantly higher among those unaware of complications of uncontrolled hypertension and those using tobacco.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Visweswara Rao Guthi, Sujith Kumar DS, Yogitha Y, Nagarjuna M, Anjan Kumar Karri
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