Purpose: Little is known on the beliefs, perceptions and practices of hypertension specialists in
addressing non-adherence to therapy. Therefore, a survey was undertaken amongst healthcare
professionals (HCPs) managing hypertension in the European Society of Hypertension (ESH)
Centres of Excellence.
Materials and methods: Cross-sectional ...
Purpose: Little is known on the beliefs, perceptions and practices of hypertension specialists in
addressing non-adherence to therapy. Therefore, a survey was undertaken amongst healthcare
professionals (HCPs) managing hypertension in the European Society of Hypertension (ESH)
Centres of Excellence.
Materials and methods: Cross-sectional data were obtained between December 2020 and April
2021 using an online anonymous structured questionnaire including 26 questions/136 items,
that was sent to all ESH Excellence centres.
Results: Overall 67 from 187 centres (37.3%) responded and 200 HCPs from 30 countries
answered the questionnaire. Participants (60% men) were mainly physicians (91%) and nurses
(8%) from University hospitals (77%). Among physicians, 83% had >10 years professional experience. Average time dedicated to discuss medications was 1-5 min in 48% and 6-10 min in 29%
of cases. Interviews with patients about adherence were the most frequently used assessment
method. Chemical detection of medications in urine was available in 36% of centres. One third
of physicians involved their patients regularly in treatment decisions. The most frequent methods to improve adherence included simplification of medication therapy, more frequent visits,
and home blood pressure monitoring. Conclusions: The level of implementation of tools to
detect and improve adherence in hypertension management in ESH excellence centres is low.
Structured educational activities and access to the newest objective measures to detect nonadherence might improve these deficits.
Conclusions: The level of implementation of tools to detect and improve adherence in hypertension management by HCPs in ESH excellence centres is low. Structured educational activities
focussing on adherence management and access to the newest objective measures to detect
non-adherence might improve these deficits.