Analytical Assessment of Belief about Medicine among Patients with Hypertension: A Case Study on Patients Referred to Medical Centers.

INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVE: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the major health problems in many countries. Medicinal treatments and lifestyle modification have so far failed to effectively influence blood pressure control. Hence, this study intended to analytically assess the belief about medicine among hypertensive patients who referred to medical centers during 2015.

MATERIALS & METHODS: This was a descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study. The population consisted of all patients who referred to health centers and doctors' offices for internal medicine and heart diseases. The sample included a total of 400 hypertensive patients who were selected through convenience method sampling and purposeful. Data were collected through a questionnaire related to belief about medicine for hypertensive patients. The findings were analyzed through the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test through SPSS version 21.0.

FINDINGS: Based on the results, more than half of the subjects believed that the medicines are generally addictive and harmful, and should be taken regularly while the natural and herbal remedies are safer. Furthermore, the majority of patients believed that doctors, who have too much confidence in the medicines, tend to over-prescribe. In fact, there was a significant relationship between certain demographic characteristics of the hypertensive patients and belief about medicines.

CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the results suggested there is belief about medicine among seniors unlike most other populations. This can provide an opportunity for nurses, health care administrators, etc. to take improvement measures in the treatment of hypertensive patients.