Hypertension is highly prevalent, and although rates of detection
and control of hypertension are improving in many
countries, uncontrolled hypertension remains common [1]
and medication and lifestyle adherence remains low. Nonadherence
leads to substantial avoidable healthcare costs [2]
because of inefficiencies in care delivery, discarded medications,
and expenditures related to preventable hypertensionrelated
sequelae [3]. Nonpharmacological interventions to
improve hypertensive medication adherence are usually very
complex involving both educational and behavioural interventions
and data examining efficacy have not been consistent
[4]. Improved understanding of the psychology of the
hypertensive patient seems desirable.
A number of patient-related barriers to optimizing blood
pressure (BP) control have been identified. These include lack
of patient knowledge, difficulty of treating an asymptomatic
condition, personal beliefs that conflict with hypertension
treatment goals, and other patient issues such as social
economic status, cultural beliefs, access to care, psychosocial
factors, and health literacy [5]. Additional obstacles include
a lack of communication and trust between patients and care
providers, high medication costs, high drug burden, failure to
attend follow-up appointments, and discontinuation of therapy
due to drug side effects [5–10]. There is limited data available
about patients’ personal perspectives regarding obstacles
to hypertension control [11, 12]. We therefore performed a
qualitative study consisting of semistructured interviews to
explore hypertensive patients’ views on their disease state and
issues related to optimizing BP control.