Effects of a feedback procedure on beliefs about symptoms and treatment adherence in hypertensive patients

RESUMEN

No disponible

ABSTRACT

Hypertension is a major health problem, and noncompliance with treatment has been identified as the predominant reason for failure of hypertension therapy. Although it is generally assumed to be a silent disease, many hypertensive patients develop false beliefs concerning specific symptoms they use to estimate if their blood pressure (BP) is high. These false beliefs should be modified in order to improve control of the disease. The study presents a feedback procedure applied in a sample of 60 hypertensive patients expressing beliefs in false symptoms associated with their BP. After application of the procedure, 88% of the patients modified or eliminated their beliefs in false symptoms, and we found significant differences ( p <.05) in the reports of adherence to pharmacological treatment before and after receiving the feedback procedure, as well as a significant improvement in the reports of difficulties with the other treatment elements (diet, exercise, control of emotions). The therapeutic possibilities of an easy procedure to apply within the healthcare setting is discussed (AU)