RESUMO
Introduction@#Hypertension is still prevalent globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries such as the Philippines. Despite its great burden, its psychosocial aspect including the coping strategies is still understudied. Upon literature search, there seems to be no local studies available, hence this study aimed to explore the coping strategies used by Filipino hypertensive patients.@*Objective@#This study aimed to identify the coping styles utilized by Filipino hypertensive patients seen in Region 1 Medical Center Family and Community Medicine Out-Patient Clinic (R1MC FCM OPC).@*Methods@#This is a cross-sectional descriptive study with a descriptive-cross-sectional research design. Purposive sampling was used to select 280 hypertensive patients from the R1MC FCM OPC between April 1, 2021 and April 1, 2022 to answer a modified version of the Filipino Coping Strategies Scale (FCSS). The following statistical tests were utilized: frequency count and percentages for qualitative data; mean, median and standard deviation for continuous variables. All analyses were performed using SPSS version 26.@*Results@#The study enrolled 280 respondents who met the eligibility criteria. The majority were 51 to 60 years old (27.14%, mean age 51.23 ± 13.12), female (60%), and high school graduates (41.79%). Furthermore, most were unemployed (63.57%) and belonging to the low-income class (75%). Among the coping strategies, the highest scores were the problem-solving domain, religiosity and relaxation/recreation domains (Mdn=3). The lowest were in emotional release and substance use domains (Mdn=1). @*Conclusion@#The coping strategies of Filipino hypertensive patients seen at R1MC FCM OPC were problem-oriented domain, religiosity and relaxation/recreation; emotional release and substance use was the least used. Further research into the psychosocial aspects of hypertension using FCSS should be conducted in other institutions or locations.