Affective temperaments and risk of non-adherence to medications in patients with hypertension

Background: Hypertension is responsible for more than 8 million deaths per year due to stroke, ischemic heart disease, and other vascular diseases. One of the most common problems in hypertensive patients is medication non-adherence. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between affective temperaments and medication non-adherence in patients with hypertension. Material and methods: In this cross-sectional study, the study population consisted of all hypertensive patients referring to the cardiovascular clinic of Ayatollah Taleghani Hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2020 and 2021. Two hundred patients with hypertension were selected. They completed the Persian versions of Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto questionnaire (TEMPS-A) to assess affective temperaments, the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) to assess medication adherence, the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale (HADS) to assess concurrent anxiety and depression, and a researcher-made questionnaire to assess the patients' demographic information. Results: Of 200 patients, 72 (36%) were male and 128 (64%) were female. The age range of patients was 25-89 years (54.01±14.33). In this study, medication adherence and non-adherence were reported in 72.5% and 37.5% of patients, respectively. Among demographic characteristics and clinical variables, fewer drugs and higher levels of education were predictors of medication adherence. Also, depressive temperament was a predictor of poor medication adherence. Conclusions: According to the findings, psychological factors such as personality characteristics are important factors in medication adherence. In case a patient obtains high scores in depressive temperament (which predicts poor medication adherence), she/he should follow special training programs to improve her/his medication adherence.