Tingkat Kepatuhan Pasien dalam Minum Obat Antihipertensi di Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Pasar Gambir Kota Tebing Tinggi

Abstract

Hypertension is a complex condition in which blood pressure is above normal limit. Patients do not usually know if they are affected by hypertension unti complication occurs.

It needs long period of treatment, and the patients should take medicines regularly and continuously, and they should know what medicines they are taking since adequate knowledge of medicines will affect their adherence to medication. The objective of the research is to delve into the patients' level of adherence to antihypertensive medications in the working area of Puskesmas Pasar Gambir. Tebing Tinggi. The research used descriptive quantitative approach. Total sampling technique was employed to take a sample of 70 respondents. The research instrument was MMAS-8 (Morisky Medication Adherence Scale) questionnaire with eight question items to measure patients adherence The result of the research showed that 47 respondents (67.1%) were females, above 55 years old, and 43 respondents (61.49%) had moderate adherence. It is recommended that the health care providers, especially nurses, provide serious support to increase patients understanding and knowledge about the importance of taking antihypertensive medicines. Besides that, health care providers' monitoring should be provided in order to increase patients adherence to taking antihypertensive medicines.