The role of stress in hypertension treatment adherence: Findings from Cimahi City

Studies on elderly patients with hypertension revealed that levels of depression, stress and anxiety correlated with their adherence to treatment. Hypertension patients who undergo regular treatment in Cimahi city still show low achievement, with 26.95% not meeting the target, while the number of hypertension cases continues to increase each year. Our objective was to analyze the role of stress in hypertension treatment adherence to address gaps identified in literature. This quantitative study involved cross sectional design conducted across 3 health centers with the highest hypertension cases in Cimahi city, namely, Padasuka, Cibereum and Cipageran Health Centers. The study was conducted for 4 months. A total of 160 participans were enrolled, and data were collected through interviews using the Hill Bone High Blood Pressure Compliance Scale to measure compliance and Perceived Stress Scale to measure stress level. Ethical approval was obtained from Health Research Ethics Commission, Immanuel Health Institute and participants provided informed consent. The primary outcome of the study was majority of respondents were aged between 50-59 years (38.1%), female (88.1%), completed elementary school education (48.8%), and 9.4% did not have health insurance. Respondents who experienced moderate stress were 52.5% and those who were disobedient were 65.6%. Statistical analyses revealed p value: 0.0001 and r value of 0.615. The higher the stress felt by the patient, the lower the level of compliance. Additionally, Stress can significantly interfere with a person's ability to comply with medication recommendations. Elderly patients with hypertension who is experiencing stress can increase the risk of forgetting or avoiding medication due to psychological effects. In conclusion, our study contributes to the understanding of relationship between stress and compliance with hypertension treatment. Future studies should address efforts to reduce stress in patients by creating more attractive intervention models to increase adherence in hypertensive patients.