Arterial hypertension as a risk factor for stroke in patients in the cerebrovascular disease unit

Arterijska hipertenzija vodeći je čimbenik rizika za razvoj moždanog udara. Značajno umanjuje kvalitetu života pojedinca i zajednice, a može završiti i preuranjenim fatalnim ishodom. Liječenje AH je doživotno, a uzroci nepridržavanja antihipertenzivne terapije mnogostruki. Ciljevi rada bili su utvrditi ustrajnost bolesnika u uzimanju antihipertenziva, te da li postoje razlike u odnosu na razinu obrazovanja, dob i spol. Istraživanje je provedeno pomoću MMAS-8 upitnika za procjenu ustrajnosti uzimanja lijekova. Sudjelovala su 74 bolesnika hospitalizirana u Jedinici za cerebrovaskularne bolesti Odjela za neurologiju Opće bolnice Pula u periodu od 22.10.2020. do 27.01. 2021. g. Svi oni su od ranije imali dijagnozu AH, u terapiji su imali propisane antihipertenzive te su zaprimljeni na bolničko liječenje zbog razvoja moždanog udara. Prilikom obrade podataka korišten je statistički program IBM SPSS Statistics 27. Korištena je deskriptivna statistička analiza, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test za testiranje normalnosti distribucije, metode neparametrijske statistike i Mann WhitneyU test za testiranje hipoteza. Prema podacima dobivenim MMAS-8 upitnikom bolesnike prema suradljivosti u uzimanju antihipertenziva možemo grupirati u tri kategorije; suradljivih je 35,1% ili 26 bolesnika, slabo suradljivih je 44,6% ili 33 bolesnika, a nesuradljivih 20,3% odnosno 15 bolesnika. Statistički značajne razlike kod ustrajnosti uzimanja terapije u odnosu na razinu obrazovanja, dob i spol nisu pronađene. Iako je trećina ispitanika u ovom istraživanju suradljiva, potrebno je ispitati razloge nesuradljivosti i slabije suradljivosti kod preostale dvije trećine ispitanika. Također je potrebno da MS/MT provode kontinuiranu edukaciju, praćenje i pružaju podršku oboljelima od AH.Arterial hypertension is a leading risk factor for the development of stroke. It significantly reduces the quality of life of the individual and the community, and can end in a premature fatal outcome. Treatment of arterial hypertension is lifelong, and the causes of non-adherence to antihypertensive therapy are multiple. The objectives of the study were to determine the persistence of patients in taking antihypertensive drugs, and whether there are differences in relation to the level of education, age and gender. The study was conducted using the MMAS-8 questionnaire to assess drug persistence. 74 patients hospitalized in the Cerebrovascular Diseases Unit of the Department of Neurology of the General Hospital Pula participated in the period from 22.10.2020. to 27.01.2021. All of them had a previous diagnosis of arterial hypertension, had prescribed antihypertensive drugs in therapy and were admitted to hospital for the development of a stroke. IBM SPSS Statistics 27 statistical program was used in data processing. Descriptive statistical analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for testing normality of distribution, methods of nonparametric statistics and Mann Whitney-U test for testing hypotheses were used. According to the data obtained by the MMAS-8 questionnaire, patients can be grouped into three categories according to their cooperation in taking antihypertensive drugs; 35.1% or 26 patients were cooperative, 44.6% or 33 patients were poorly cooperative, and 20.3% or 15 patients were uncooperative. No statistically significant differences in the persistence of therapy in relation to education level, ageand gender were found. Although one third of the respondents in this research are cooperative, it is necessary to examine the reasons for non-cooperation and lower cooperation in the remaining two thirds of the respondents. It is also necessary for nurses and technicians to conduct continuous education, monitoring and support for hypertensive patients