Introduction: Suboptimal adherence to treatment is considered to be the main impediment to controlling the blood pressure values, and the development of therapeutic adherence may be the most effective investment to address chronic conditions. Under these circumstances, we have decided to evaluate the adherence to treatment of hypertensive patients both at admission and one month after discharge, in the context of the distribution of informative and self-monitoring materials.
Methods: We conducted a prospective study that included 30 hypertensive patients admitted in the Insti-tute of Cardiovascular Diseases „Prof. Dr. George I. M. Georgescu“, Iași, who completed the Morisky questi-onnaire for adherence to treatment both on admission and one month after discharge. All patients received detailed information on the most relevant aspects of hypertension management, practical advice and daily monitoring tables for blood pressure values combined in the form of a booklet.
Results: The results of the first questionnaire revealed a maximum adherence (Morisky score 0) in only 10% of the patients, most of them (60%) having an average adherence (Morisky score between 1-2). When repea-ting the questionnaire one month after discharge (this time by telephone), after providing educational and self-monitoring materials, 43% of the patients showed maximum adherence, 53.3% had moderate adherence and only 3.3% of patients were reported with low adherence.
Conclusions: T here has been a marked increase in adherence to treatment in the hypertensive population studied after hospitalization and the distribution of informative materials. Particularly in patients with chronic cardiovascular disease such as hypertensive patients, it is justified to invest resources in effective strategies to increase adherence to treatment that can have a huge socio-economic impact by increasing the quality of life, reducing the duration and frequency of hospitalizations and decreasing morbidity / mortality.