title: Compliance Among Adolescents with Arterial Hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The term "compliance" means the degree to which the patient's behavior, applying medication or certain lifestyle changes, is consistent with arrangements communicated to him by a doctor or other healthcare professional. Literature indicates that the degree of adherence to medical recommendations for hypertensive patients is unsatisfactory, making it the main cause of the low effectiveness of antihypertensive therapy.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to assess the compliance of adolescents in the field of pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods of hypertension treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 62 patients (20 women, 42 men) diagnosed with hypertension and treated in specialist healthcare facilities. As a research tool, a questionnaire prepared on the basis of recent literature was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The vast majority of respondents (72.7%) declared that they were regularly taking antihypertensive drugs. The proportion of patients regularly taking antihypertensive drugs was higher in patients treated with monotherapy than with polytherapy (48.5% vs. 24.2%). Among the methods of non-pharmacological treatment of hypertension, the most accepted lifestyle change in the study population was smoking cessation (83.8% of respondents) and reduction of salt consumption (64.5% of respondents), and the least acceptable lifestyle change was maintaining proper body weight by eating a low calorie diet (30.6% of respondents).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescents with hypertension adhere in varying degrees to medical recommendations related to the hypertension treatment. The available literature indicates that the currently effective way to improve cooperation with the patients is education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paczkowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kopciuch
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacoeconomics and Social Pharmacy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Elżbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nowakowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Diseases, Metabolic Disorders and Arterial Hypertension, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Diseases, Metabolic Disorders and Arterial Hypertension, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland.
authors.forename: Wiesław
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bryl
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents
keywords: adolescents; arterial hypertension; compliance