title: Adherence therapy for medication non-compliant patients with hypertension: a randomised controlled trial.
abstract: The objective of this study is to establish the efficacy of adherence therapy (AT) compared with treatment as usual (TAU) in reducing blood pressure (BP) in non-compliant hypertensive patients. This study was designed as a parallel-group single-blind randomised controlled trial. The study was carried out at three general hospital outpatient clinics in Jordan. A total of 136 non-compliant hypertensive patients with a mean baseline BP of 164.5 mm Hg (s.d. 10.0) over 102.2 mm Hg (s.d. 7.0) participated in the study. 7 weekly 20-min sessions of AT in addition to TAU. The main outcome of this study is systolic blood pressure (SBP) at 11-weeks follow-up. In all, 68 patients received TAU and 68 AT. Intention-to-treat analysis included all participants randomised. AT lowered SBP by -23.11 mm Hg (95% CI: -25.85, -20.36) and diastolic BP (DBP) by -15.18 mm Hg (95% CI: -17.55, -12.80) at 11 weeks compared with TAU. Adherence (measured by pill counting) was also improved in the AT group by 37% at 11 weeks compared with TAU. No significant adverse events were reported. AT increases adherence to medication for hypertension which then leads to a clinically important reduction in BP.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health, Nursing and Midwifery, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alhalaiqa
authors.forename: K H O
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Deane
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Nawafleh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gray
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007597:Jordan; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents