The influence of the hypertensive patient's education in compliance with their medication

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between patient's education in compliance with their medical regimen and the external variables: (1) "years of schooling," (2) duration of treatment, and (3) compliance with the medical regimen. The hypothesis tested in this study was as follows: "Hypertensive individuals who are educated about the importance of their medication and about the consequences of not taking the prescribed dosage will show better compliance with their prescribed drug regimen than those who are not thus educated." The sample of the study consisted of 40 hypertensive patients. A "posttest-only" control group design was used in this study. The hypothesis of the study was tested by using the Mann-Whitney U test. For the relationship between the external variables (years of schooling, duration of treatment, and compliance with the medical regimen), the Spearman test was used. The findings of the study revealed a statistically significant difference between compliance levels in the experimental group and in the control group (U = 130, p < 0.05), a positive correlation between "years of schooling" and compliance (rs = 0.33, p = 0.04), and a negative correlation between duration of treatment and compliance (rs = -0.45, p = 0.005). The findings support the hypothesis of the study.