MEDICATION ADHERENCE AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL AND NON-PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS USING THE "MORISKY MEDICATION ADHERENCE SCALE (MMAS-8)" IN ARAR CITY, SAUDI ARABIA

Objective: To estimate the frequency of adherence to antihypertensive medications in hypertensive patients and determine the Barriers to medication adherence. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among hypertensive patients in Arar, Saudi Arabia. Eight questions comprise the Arabic version of MMAS-8 that was implemented in the data collection process. Results: A total of 540 patients were included in this study; most of them (79.3%), with a mean age of 40.76 ± 14.29 years. The data reveals a total mean MMAS-8 score of 6.16 ± 1.6, with 77.8% of participants displaying moderate adherence and 22.2% demonstrating low adherence. Marital status (P=0.012), smoking status, and occupation (P<0.001) were significantly associated with the compliance level. Patients who have longer disease duration (P<0.001), who were frequently admitted to the hospital (P=0.002), with secondary complications (P=0.038), who understand their medication regimen (P<0.001), who do not stop taking medication when they feel better (P<0.001) or worse (P<0.001), who do not suspect the effectiveness of the medication (P<0.001), who do not have medication side effects (P<0.001), and those with no alternative medicine (P=0.001) were significantly more compliant with hypertensive medication. Conclusion: The study underscores suboptimal medication compliance in managing hypertension in Saudi Arabia. Addressing barriers like poor understanding, side effects, and alternative treatments is essential. Emphasis should be placed on patient education, ongoing follow-up, and personalized support. Future research should involve longitudinal studies to evaluate changes in adherence over time, especially in newly diagnosed patients, to better understand long-term factors influencing adherence.