Evaluation of a sample of Portuguese hypertensive patients’ knowledge about hypertension and its influence on their beliefs and adherence to therapy ; Avaliação do conhecimento dos doentes hipertensos portugueses sobre hipertensão e sua influência nas crenças e adesão à terapêutica

Introduction and objectives: Patient knowledge about hypertension is an important patientrelated determinant for poor blood pressure control and is a target for more effective interventions. We aimed to evaluate hypertensive patients’ knowledge and awareness about hypertension and its influence on their beliefs about their medication and their adherence to antihypertensive therapy. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adult patients attending one of the participating pharmacies and taking at least one antihypertensive drug. Data on personal and family history were collected, and Portuguese versions of the Hypertension Knowledge Test (HKT), Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ), and short version of the Maastricht Utrecht Adherence in Hypertension questionnaire (MUAH-16) were administered. Results: A total of 240 patients were enrolled. The mean number of antihypertensive drugs used was 1.62±0.99, with 15.4% of patients treated with three or more drugs. More than 80% of patients knew the blood pressure therapeutic goals and identified overweight, sedentary lifestyle, and salt as risk factors for hypertension. Conversely, the majority of the patients were not aware of the asymptomatic characteristics of hypertension and believed that antihypertensive treatment had to be used for a limited time duration. Negative and significant correlations were found between the HKT and negative attitudes toward medication, but no association was found with positive attitudes. ; terapêuticaResumoIntroduc¸ão e objetivos: O conhecimento dos doentes sobre hipertensão é um importante fatorassociado ao mau controlo da pressão arterial e é uma das variáveis consideradas para desenharintervenc¸ões mais efetivas. O nosso objetivo foi avaliar o conhecimento dos doentes hipertensossobre hipertensão e determinar a sua influência nas crenc¸as sobre medicac¸ão e na adesão àterapêutica destes doentes.Métodos: Estudo transversal. Doentes adultos que se dirigiram a uma das farmácias partic-ipantes e a tomar pelo menos um ...