Adherence to therapeutic regimen of hypertension and type-2 diabetes patients in Bucaramanga, Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Several methods or instruments exist for measuring adherence, and most of them focused on medication intake. However, it is also important to assess other aspects related to compliance with therapeutic regimen in hypertension and type-2 diabetes patients, such as diet, exercise, and other recommendations by health professionals to control disease and avoid its progress. Objective: To determine and describe level of adherence to therapeutic regimen in hypertension and type-2 diabetes patients. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study conducted in patients of two cardiovascular risk programs. Adherence was measured through the nursing outcomes label “Therapeutic behavior: illness or injury (1609)”. A descriptive analysis of adherence level, including stratifications by age, sex and disease, was carried out. Results: A total 500 patients were included. Median age was 68 years and 69.0% were women. General mean adherence level was 3.11±0.4 points. Five of twelve indicators were among the never-and-rarely-demonstrated categories. No statistically significant differences were found when stratifying age, sex and disease (p-value=0.629, p-value=0.396 and p-value=0.535, respectively). Conclusions: A general average level of adherence to therapeutic regimen in the category sometimes demonstrated was established with five indicators showing high compromise levels. Evaluation of adherence level with this instrument allows identification of areas with low compliance so that professional nursing staf f can guide their care plans