Health Beliefs and Medication Adherence in Omanis With Hypertension.
Huda Al-Noumani, Jia-Rong Wu, Debra Barksdale and 3 others
PMID 30130358WHAT IT FOUND
Omani adults with hypertension who believed their blood pressure medication was necessary, felt confident taking it, and had fewer medication worries were more likely to report taking it as prescribed.
Higher adherence was linked with better blood pressure control.
Key findings
01Among 215 Omani adults with hypertension, 68% had high medication adherence, but only 36% had controlled blood pressure.
02After adjusting for other factors, higher confidence in taking medication and stronger belief that medication was necessary were associated with high adherence, while more medication concerns were associated with lower adherence.
03High medication adherence was associated with lower likelihood of uncontrolled blood pressure.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional survey, so it cannot show that beliefs caused adherence or that adherence caused better blood pressure control. Adherence was based on what participants reported, not an objective measure, so memory errors could affect the results. The authors reported low reliability for the adherence and illness perception questionnaires in this sample. Participants were a convenience sample from primary care clinics in Oman, so the findings may not apply to other populations. The study did not examine antihypertensive medication types, doses, or other medications used for concurrent comorbidities.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The article metadata lists NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving beliefs or self-efficacy will increase adherence or lower blood pressure. This was a cross-sectional survey of self-reported adherence in Omani primary care, so it shows association only and used a convenience sample.