Implications National health care policies are needed to increase the rate of success of adherence to preventive behaviors for controlling high blood pressure, especially persons who are prehypertensive. The findings show that adherence to preventive behaviors is the dynamic interaction of a prescribed treatment regimen and the patient’s behaviors for physical and psychosocial well-being and preventing hypertension. Therefore, this knowledge can subsequently be applied by healthcare providers working in public health, education, and local administrative organizations to promote adherence to preventive behaviors for prehypertension among all age groups in Thai society. Moreover, national policies can be developed based on research finding to encourage Thai persons with prehypertension to succeed in adhering to preventive behaviors. An understanding of adherence to preventive behavior attributions in Thais with prehypertension by nurses and other healthcare providers is beneficial for designing intervention programs that are congruent with social and cultural contexts for enhancing adherence to preventive behaviors, specifically in the management of Thais with prehypertension. The
multifaceted nature of adherence to preventive behaviors identified in this study could serve as a basis for development of an adherence to preventive behaviors scale for Thais with prehypertension. In addition, future qualitative study should be done to further explore processes and relating factors of adherence to preventive behaviors among Thais with prehypertension.