Association between the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and blood pressure control.
BACKGROUND
Non-adherence to treatment is an important and often unrecognized risk factor that contributes to reduced control of blood pressure (BP).


OBJECTIVE
To determine the association between treatment adherence measured by a validated version in Portuguese of the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and BP control in hypertensive outpatients.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was carried out with hypertensive patients older than 18 years, treated at six of the Family Health Strategy Units in Maceió (AL), through interviews and home blood pressure measurements, between January and April 2011. Adherence was determined by MMAS-8 version translated for this study. The patients were considered adherent when they had a score equal to 8 at the MMAS-8.


RESULTS
The prevalence of adherence among the 223 patients studied was 19.7%, while 34% had controlled BP (> 140/90 mmHg). The average adherence value according to the MMAS-8 was 5.8 (± 1.8). Adherent patients showed to be more prone (OR = 6.1, CI [95%] = 3.0 to 12.0) to have blood pressure control than those who reached mean (6 to <8) or low values (<6) at the adherence score. The Portuguese version of MMAS-8 was showed a significant association with BP control (p = 0.000).


CONCLUSIONS
The diagnosis of non-adherent behavior through the application of MMAS-8 in patients using of antihypertensive medications was predictive of elevated systolic and diastolic BP.
Laboratório de Ensino e Pesquisa em Farmácia Social, Curso de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, SE - Brazil.
Alfredo Dias
AD
Oliveira-Filho
José Augusto
JA
Barreto-Filho
Sabrina Joany Felizardo
SJ
Neves
Divaldo Pereira de
DP
Lyra Junior
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects*; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents