Hypertension-related Knowledge, Practice and Drug Adherence among Inpatients of a Hospital in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Hypertension is one of the most important preventable causes of premature morbidity and mortality in the world. Many people with hypertension both in developing and developed countries have no adequate control of their blood pressure (BP). Hypertension-related knowledge and practice of patients play an important role in controlling hypertension and in preventing its long-term complications. The objective here was to study hypertension-related knowledge, practice and drug adherence of inpatients, and to examine an association between the knowledge regarding hypertension with BP control status and drug adherence. We studied hypertension-related knowledge, practice and drug adherence of patients in a hospital setting. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 209 patients with the diagnosis of primary hypertension at the Samarkand State Medical Institute. The study was conducted from June to September 2012. Drug adherence was studied using the Morisky 4-item self-report measure of medication-taking behavior. The reasons for drug non-adherence were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated by a logistic model. The BP control rate and drug adherence of the patients were suboptimal (24.4% and 36.8%, respectively). Overall, 64.6% of patients had good or adequate and 35.5% had inadequate knowledge about hypertension. Good knowledge of patients was significantly associated with controlled BP (OR=5.4, 95% CI, 1.7-16.2) and drug adherence (OR=3.8, 95% CI, 1.4-10.8). In conclusion, the inpatients of the secondary hospital had sufficient general knowledge about hypertension, but they had inadequate knowledge about specific issues such as treatment for and symptoms of hypertension. Both drug adherence and BP control rate were suboptimal and significantly associated with hypertension knowledge. This study specifies potential areas of hypertension education that could be improved by patients' knowledge of hypertension.