The influence of patient's consciousness regarding high blood pressure and patient's attitude in face of disease controlling medicine intake.

OBJECTIVE To assess the relation between blood pressure control and the following: the Morisky-Green test, the patient's consciousness regarding high blood pressure, the patient's attitude in face of medicine intake, the patient's attendance at medical consultations, and the subjective physician's judgment. METHODS We studied 130 hypertensive patients with the following characteristics: 73% females, 60 +/- 11 years, 58% married, 70% white, 45% retired, 45% with incomplete elementary schooling, 64% had a familial income of 1 to 3 minimum wages, body mass index of 30 +/- 7 kg/m , consciousness regarding the disease for a mean period of 11 +/- 9.5 years, and mean treatment duration of 8 +/- 7 years. RESULTS Only 35% of the hypertensive individuals had blood pressure under control and a longer duration of treatment (10 +/- 7 vs 7 +/- 6.5 years; P<0.05). The retiree predominated. The result of the Morisky-Green test did not relate to blood pressure control. In evaluating the attitude in face of medicine intake, the controlled patients achieved significantly higher scores than did the noncontrolled patients (8 +/- 1.9 vs 7 +/- 2, P<0.05). The hypertensive patients had higher levels of consciousness regarding their disease and its treatment, and most (70%) patients attended 3 or 4 medical consultations, which did not influence blood pressure control. The physicians attributed significantly higher scores regarding adherence to treatment to controlled patients (6 +/- 0.8 vs 5 +/- 1.2; P<0.05). CONCLUSION Consciousness regarding the disease, the Morisky-Green test, and attendance to medical consultations did not influence blood pressure control.