The degree of health literacy and treatment compliance in patients with high blood pressure in a national hospital in Lima, Peru

Abstract

Objectives. To assess the level of health literacy and treatment compliance in high-blood pressure patients attending an outpatient clinic in a hospital in Lima, Peru. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 276 patients, who filled out a questionnaire with general characteristics, the SAHLSA-50 Test, and the Morisky-Green Test. The Chi-square test was used to assess the association between independent variables with treatment compliance and health literacy. Results. We found a 36% of inadequate health literacy and 15% treatment compliance. No association was found between these variables (p=0.155). There was an association between being a head of household (p=0.033) and having a partner (p=0.044) with the degree of health literacy. Conclusions. The percentage of health literacy was similar to that of Peruvian and Latin American studies, and the degree of treatment compliance was one of the lowest reported. No significant association was found between these two variables.