Adherence level valuation depending on the duration of therapy among patients with arterial hypertension

Arterial hypertension is a preventable risk factor for premature death and disability worldwide. Currently, one of the major problems in cardiology practice is poor adherence to drug therapy. The aim of the study is to determine the level of medication adherence by assessing the association with the duration of antihypertensive therapy, patient demographics, and disease control characteristics, including the role of the pharmacist as a health care provider. This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in a primary care settings. The questionnaire contained questions about patient demographics, disease control, pharmaceutical care, and adherence level to medication. This study involved 187 participants. The prevalence of non-adherence was 45.9% among patients with arterial hypertension. There was a trend for the proportion of adherent patients to decrease to 38.2% with medication use for 2–4.9 years, but the adherence rate increased with the increase in hospitalization episodes due to arterial hypertension. Non-working seniors were more adherent (adherence level 64.6%) than other employment groups (p = 0.014). Even though 84.7% of the respondents had a blood pressure monitor at home, only 25.3% of them reported measuring blood pressure every day, the rest measured it inconsistently or did not measure at all. There were statistically significant differences between the groups of adherent patients in terms of the patients' net income (p = 0.011), medication co-payment (p = 0.007), and whether the pharmacist offered to reduce the costs of drug therapy (p = 0.002). Level of medication non-adherence was high among patients with arterial hypertension in Latvia. Intentionally non-adherent respondents discontinued their medication because of fear of getting used to medicines. Blood pressure control level at home was generally assessed as poor/inadequate. Pharmacists' behavior, offering to reduce the costs of medications used, was influenced by socio-economic factors such as employment status and income levels of patients.