factors influencing adherence to anti-hypertensive medications: a cross-sectional study among the najran population, saudi arabia

Background:anti-hypertensive drugs are a crucial component of managing hypertension, and significant cause of morbidity and death globally. however, adherence to anti-hypertensive medications is often suboptimal, leading to poor blood pressure control and increased risk of cardiovascular events. aim: to determine the elements affecting the najran population's adherence to anti-hypertensive medication.methods: an 18-year-old or older population who had been diagnosed with hypertension and were now using anti-hypertensive drugs participated in this cross-sectional study. participants were asked to fill out a self-administered data collecting form to provide socio - demographics and adherence-related data. anti-hypertensive medication adherence was evaluated using the morisky medication adherence scale (mmas-8). to find determinants of adherence to anti-hypertensive drugs, bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed.results: among 208 participants, (57.2%) were married, had a secondary education (34.6%), worked for the government (36.1%), and lived mostly in cities (95.2%). the average score on the mmas-8 was 4.66 plus 2.53, which indicates a moderate level of non-adherence to anti-hypertensive treatment. there were significant associations between mmas-8 scores and sex, marital status, educational level, employment status, residency, source of knowledge, and duration of anti-hypertensive medications.conclusion: several factors are associated with non-adherence to anti-hypertensive medications among the najran population in saudi arabia. female sex, single marital status, primary education, private sector employment, and rural residency were independent predictors of non-adherence. these findings suggest that interventions to improve adherence to anti-hypertensive medications should consider these factors and be tailored to the specific needs and challenges faced by individuals in studied subgroups.