Compliance with medication among outpatients with uncontrolled hypertension in the Seychelles

Introduction Treatment of hypertension has been shown to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality[1, 2]. Uncontrolled hypertension has been attributed to patients' failure to follow properly a prescribed drug regimen in [...]
Owing to increasing rates of hypertension and cardiovascular-related diseases in developing countries, compliance with antihypertensive medication is of major public health importance. Few studies have reported on compliance in developing countries. We determined the compliance of 187 patients with uncontrolled hypertension in the Seychelles (Indian Ocean), by assessing the presence of a biologic marker (riboflavin) in the urine. The urine tested positive in 56% of the cases. Compliance varied from one physician to another (highest 72% versus lowest 33%, P = 0.003), improved with the level of literacy (62% versus 45%, P = 0.024), and depended on the presence or absence of diuretics in the medication (respectively, 45% versus 66%, P = 0.005). The ability of patients to report correctly the number of antihypertensive pills to be taken daily was a predictor of compliance (62% of the patients who gave appropriate answers had positive urine for the marker versus 31% for those giving inappropriate answers).