Assessment of adherence to self-care behaviors in hypertensive patients in Qom

Adherence to self-care behaviors are effective factors in controlling and preventing chronic disease complications such as hypertension, therefore, the study was conducted to determine adherence to self-care behaviors in hypertensive patients in Qom.

This study was a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study that was performed on 243 patients with primary hypertension referred to urban community health centers, using available sampling method in Qom in 1398. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, a self-care behaviors questionnaire and a checklist to assess and record systolic and diastolic blood pressure and standard blood pressure gauge. Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software using independent t-test, chi-square, one- way ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient.

The results show that 56.8% of men and 83.7% of women adhere to the drug regimen. Findings showed that 23.7% of men and 27.9% of women adhered to low salt diet. The results also showed a significant inverse relationship between adherence to the low-salt diet and weight management with mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure (p>0/05).

The findings of the study show that about two-thirds of patients adhere to drug and physical activity regimes, respectively, while adherence to the low-salt diet in one quarter of patients still needs improvement. The findings also showed that self-care behaviors (medication, low salt diet, weight management) can decrease systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients.