Patient Education and Medication Adherence among Hypertensives in a Tertiary Hospital, South Western Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a global health issue among the adult population with high morbidity and mortality rates. Poor adherence to medication is associated with bad outcome of the disease and wastage of health resources. Therefore, this study aims to determine the role of patient education in medication adherence among hypertensives attending tertiary hospitals in Ekiti State, South Western, Nigeria. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study involving 420 participants attending Family Medicine Department Clinic of Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ido-Ekiti. Relevant data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean age of respondents was 60.97 +/- 11.28 years, and a slight female preponderance (male: female = 1:1.7 over male). Three hundred and forty nine (83.1%) were married, 273(65.0%) were from a monogamous family and 375(89.2%) had family sizes of more than 4. Ninety four (22.4%) had good knowledge about hypertension, and 257(61.2%) were adherent to their medication. Increased medication adherence proportion was observed as knowledge about hypertension improves. The odds of adherence to treatment among subjects with good knowledge is 2 times (OR = 2.320, 95%CI = 1.164, 4.626) higher than among subjects with poor knowledge. CONCLUSION: The proportion of respondents with good knowledge about hypertension is low. However, the adherence among them to medication is higher and statistically significant. Patient education about the disease and its treatment by primary care physicians can help to improve adherence to medication.