Post-discharge evaluation of medication adherence and knowledge of hypertension among hypertensive stroke patients in northwestern China

Jingjing Pan,1 Tao Lei,2 Bin Hu,1 Qiongge Li11Department of Pharmacy, 2Department of Neurology, Xi’an Fourth Hospital, Xi’an, People’s Republic of ChinaObjectives: The aims of this study were to assess the knowledge of hypertension (HTN) and investigate risk factors associated with medication adherence among hypertensive stroke patients after discharge in the northwestern China.Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study involving 440 Chinese hypertensive stroke patients was conducted in a tertiary hospital in Xi’an, China. Data were collected by telephone interviews and patients’ medical records.Results: It was found that 35.23% of patients were compliant with their antihypertensive drug treatments, and 42.95%, 52.27% and 4.77% of patients had poor, moderate and adequate knowledge of HTN, respectively. Gender, blood pressure (BP) categories, BP monitoring and HTN knowledge were independently associated with antihypertensive medication adherence.Conclusion: The medication adherence among hypertensive stroke patients in northwestern China was poor. Knowledge of HTN was suboptimal. More attention and effective strategies should be designed to the factors affecting medication adherence. As knowledge positively affects medication adherence, clinical pharmacists should play an important role in patients’ medication education.Keywords: medication adherence, knowledge, hypertension, stroke, clinical pharmacist, Chin