Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypertension is the primary cause of cardiovascular disease and early mortality. Self-care is important for the prevention of hypertensive-related complications, and it was found to be necessary to determine the self-care adherence of hypertensive patients in Guraghe Zone, as there are limited findings in this area. The other reason for conducting this study was that there are certain variables related to self-care that have not been well studied, such as BMI, the number of antihypertensive medications, and the duration of antihypertensive drugs the patients are taking. OBJECTIVE: To assess self-care adherence and associated factors among hypertensive patients at Guraghe zone public hospitals. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A multi-center institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted at selected Guraghe zone hospitals from May 20 to June 20, 2023. A systematic random sampling method was employed to select 370 participants. Hypertension self-care Activity Level Scale Effects (H-SCALE) was used to measure the self-care status. A binary logistic regression model was applied, and variables with a p-value <0.05 with a 95 % CI in the multivariable analysis were considered significant. RESULTS: The study evaluated the self-care adherence of 370 patients, and 50.8 % of patients had good self-care adherence. Normal BMI (AOR = 2.049, 95 % CI: 1.041, 4.033), starting antihypertensive in <5 years (AOR = 2.530, 95 % CI: 1.462, 4.381), patients taking three or more antihypertensive (AOR = 4.534, 95 % CI: 2.005, 10.252), absence of comorbidity (AOR = 1.758, 95 % CI: 1.030, 3.003), and strong social support (AOR = 3.842, 95 % CI: 1.994, 7.402) were significantly associated with good self-care. CONCLUSION: and recommendation: Nearly half of patients with hypertension had good self-care adherence. BMI, antihypertensive duration, number of antihypertensive, comorbidity, and social support were variables that showed significant association with self-care adherence. Patients need to implement the lifestyle recommendations in addition to regular follow-up to prevent complications. Health-care facilities need to provide health education on the proper implementation of self-care recommendations.