[Factors involved in noncompliance with pharmacological treatment in arterial hypertension].

OBJECTIVES

To find the amount of non-compliance with medical treatment for Hypertension and its causes, and to describe the profile of non-compliant patients.

DESIGN

A crossover study performed on two home visits.

SETTING

A rural Health Centre at Calpe, Alicante.

PATIENTS

The sample was obtained from the census of medically treated hypertense patients. 174 of the 200 patients chosen completed the study.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Compliance was evaluated by a surprise count of pills in the patient's home. Patients complying between 80 and 110% were considered compliant. There was 47.7% non-compliance (C.I. 95%: 40.3-55.1), with 31% under-compliers and 16.7% over-compliers. Lack of information (39.8%) and forgetfulness (28.9%) were the most common causes of non-compliance.

CONCLUSIONS

A high amount of non-compliance was shown, including an important number of over-compliers. Its causes were defined along with other reasons predicting non-compliance.