Association between hypertension knowledge and medication adherence in Vietnamese patients: A cross-sectional study.

Hypertension knowledge and medication adherence are the success of treatment. We aimed to determine the association between knowledge about hypertension and medication adherence in hypertensive patients. A crosssectional study was conducted in in-person interviews with 360 hypertensive patients using a pre-designed questionnaire. The Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale (HK-LS) assessed patients' knowledge about hypertension. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale assessed patients' medication adherence. Patients' characteristics and medication usage data were obtained from medical records or prescriptions. The mean age of the patients was 59.3±9.55 years. Most patients used only one antihypertensive medication (74.7%), and a calcium channel blocker was the most used (46.4%). Many patients in this study had poor knowledge about hypertension, accounting for 65.28%, though most patients adhered to medication (81.94%). Patients' knowledge of hypertension had a statistically significant association with medication adherence (p=0.002). This research indicated the association between knowledge and medication adherence, so medical personnel consultation is crucial to raise patients' knowledge and improve treatment safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]