Patient reaction to information and motivation factors in long-term treatment with antihypertensive drugs

Abstract

In order to learn more about the patient-physician relationship, various aspects of information and communication, patient desires and complaints, a questionnaire form was mailed to three groups of male hypertensive patients. Group A consisted of 264 patients, response rate 61% (160 patients), originating from the employees' health service at two factories in Norway, and groups B (drug-treated) and C (not drug-treated) comprised 441 patients, response rate 82% (362 patients), and 328 patients, response rate 81% (265 patients), respectively, from the hypertension trial of the Oslo Study. Information and/or communication failure was observed in all groups, more in group A than in groups B and C. More information was wanted by 50--75% of the patients, especially in written form. More than one half of the patients expressed complaints which might have been misinterpreted as being due to drug treatment. With the exception of asthenia/drowsiness, impotence and podagra, which occurred more frequently in group B than in group C, the pattern of complaints was similar in these two groups.