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The association between self-perceptions of aging and antihypertensive medication adherence in older Chinese adults

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Abstract

Background

Approximately one billion adults worldwide are hypertensive and most aged 60 or above. Poor adherence with medication treatment is still one of the main causes of failure in achieving blood pressure control. Compared to younger individuals, aging perception may be the main factor influencing elders receiving preventive care. Some studies have investigated the impact of self-perceptions of aging on some preventive health behaviors including “followed the directions for taking prescription medications” in developed countries in the West. However, there is a scarcity of studies evaluating the self-perceptions of aging and its association with antihypertensive adherence among Chinese older adults.

Aim

This study aimed to identify the association between aging perceptions and antihypertensive drug adherence among Chinese older adults.

Methods

A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in wards and outpatient clinic of a University Hospital and communities in Suzhou, China. Older adults who were taking at least one antihypertensive drug currently were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire, including basic socio-demographic and clinical information, self-reported medication adherence and self-perceptions of aging.

Results

From 585 old patients, 34.2 % was determined to have good medication adherence. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that good adherence to antihypertensive agents was more common among those with lower scores on “timeline cyclical” (p = 0.004) and “identity” (p < 0.001) dimensions, and higher scores on “control positive” (p = 0.004) dimension of aging perceptions.

Conclusion

Self-perceptions of aging, being significantly associated with medication adherence, are an important starting point when conducting intervention programmes for elder patients.

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Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University/School of Nursing, Soochow University, No. 188 Shizi Street, Suzhou, 215006, China

      Yunying Hou, Qing Wu & Xiaohua Wang

    2. Department of Vasculocardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China

      Dandan Zhang, Jie Gu, Feng Xue & Xin Zhao

    3. School of Public Health, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

      Yunjuan Sun

    Authors
    1. Yunying Hou
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    2. Dandan Zhang
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    3. Jie Gu
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    4. Feng Xue
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    5. Yunjuan Sun
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    6. Qing Wu
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    7. Xin Zhao
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    8. Xiaohua Wang
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    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Xiaohua Wang.

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    Funding

    This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (81170173).

    Conflict of interest

    No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors.

    Ethical approval

    This study was approved by the ethics committee of the University Hospital and was therefore performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

    Informed consent

    Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in this study.

    Additional information

    Y. Hou and D. Zhang contribute equally to this paper.

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    Hou, Y., Zhang, D., Gu, J. et al. The association between self-perceptions of aging and antihypertensive medication adherence in older Chinese adults. Aging Clin Exp Res 28, 1113–1120 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0516-z

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0516-z

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