Abstract:
Background: Hypertension is the main contributing factor to cardiovascular disease and early death globally. The management of hypertension relies on both pharmacological therapies and lifestyle changes. However, little is known about why people are negligent about adhering to recommended lifestyle modifications.
Objective: To assess the level of adherence to lifestyle modifications and associated factors among adult hypertensive patients attending hypertensive chronic follow-up units of Jigjiga University sheikh Hassen Yabare Referral Hospital, Eastern Ethiopia, December 01-30, 2022.
Methods: A hospital based mixed-methods study was conducted cross-sectionally among 376 hypertensive patients selected through systematic random sampling. Quantitative data were collected using a standardized, pre-tested questionnaire, Hypertension self-care activity level effect (H-SCALE), the qualitative data were obtained through 13 in-depth interviews. The quantitative data were entered into Epi-data version 4.4, and exported to STATA version 17.0 for data cleaning and analysis. Descriptive statistics were used, and binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with the outcome variable. The qualitative data were transcribed, coded, categorized, and themes were formed through a thematic approach using ATLAS. ti version 7. Lastly, results were triangulated using continues narrative approach.
Result: The overall adherence to the lifestyle modification in this study was 9.4% (95% CI: 6.7, 12.6%). Respondents with college and above educational status (AOR=2.61, 95% CI: 1.01, 6.76), good Knowledge of hypertension (AOR=4.28, 95% CI:1.36, 13.5), good Patient-professional interaction (AOR=3.13, 95% CI:1.313, 7.47), good self-efficacy (AOR=2.66, 95% CI:1.09, 6.5) and sleeping-duration (AOR=2.298, 95% CI:1.04, 5.1) had significant association with the level of adherence. Poor decision making, personal preferences in acting certain way, disease related conditions, social gatherings and craving for addictions were among the predictors of none adherence as unveiled by the qualitative study.
Conclusion: The magnitude of adherence was very low in the study setting, educational status, knowledge about hypertension, patient professional interaction, self-efficacy and sleep duration were the independent predictors of adherence to lifestyle modifications. a multifaceted collaborative work is needed to prevent and control hypertension
