A Study on Knowledge, Awareness, and Medication Adherence in Patients with Hypertension from a Tertiary Care Centre from Northern Sri Lanka

Objective. To assess the patient’s knowledge and awareness about hypertension and adherence to antihypertensive medication among hypertensive patients with validated Morisky questionnaires in a tertiary care centre of northern Sri Lanka. Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive comparative study was carried out at Teaching Hospital Jaffna, from January 2017 to April 2017. Hypertensive patients were recruited by systematic randomized controlled sampling and interviewed with validated Morisky questionnaires to assess their knowledge about hypertension. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 21) analytical package. Results. 73 of 303 patients were males. 69.9% of patients had adequate knowledge about hypertension. 40.5% of patients were unaware of their disease status. 75.8% of patients could not recall their blood pressure values at the time of diagnosis. 72.3% of patients were unaware of their values of blood pressure during their last outpatient clinic visit. 48.2% of patients had awareness of target organ damage due to hypertension (kidney, 72, 23.7%; heart, 128, 42.2%; brain, 140, 46.7%; eye, 42, 13.8%). Most of the patients had poor drug compliance. The most common reasons for nonadherence were forgetfulness (70, 23.1%) and interruptions of daily routine (53, 17.5%). Conclusion. The knowledge about hypertension among majority of patients was reasonable. But they were unaware of their disease status. The drug compliance among them was poor. Forgetfulness and interruptions of daily routine were common reasons attributed for nonadherence

Cholestatic hepatitis with ciprofloxacin therapy: A Case Report

Ciprofloxacin has generally been well-tolerated and is the commonly prescribed fluoroquinolone antibiotic for treatment of urinary tract and gastrointestinal infection. The adverse effects on the liver usually range from asymptomatic elevation of liver enzymes to fulminant hepatitis. However, acute fulminant hepatitis and cholestatic hepatitis are reported rarely in literature. Here, we report a case of ciprofloxacin induced cholestatic hepatitis in a 52 year old woman following intravenous ciprofloxacin for acute gastroenteritis.</p

Descriptive cross-sectional study on knowledge, awareness and adherence to medication among hypertensive patients in a tertiary care center, Eastern Sri Lanka

Introduction: Hypertension is one of the common non-communicable diseases and public health problem among developed and developing countries. The lack of knowledge and awareness on hypertension and poor adherence of medication are a major challenge to control hypertension and prevent its complications. Our study aimed to assess the knowledge, awareness of hypertension and adherence to medication among hypertensive patients attending the medical clinics of a tertiary care center, Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among hypertensive patients to assess knowledge, awareness of hypertension and adherence to medication in medical clinics in a tertiary care for 6 months duration. Data were collected by using pretested and validated Hypertension Facts Questionnaire. Their medication adherence and the reasons for nonadherence were studied using Medication Adherence Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 18) analytical package and the chi-square test was performed. The scoring system was used to categorize the level of knowledge and awareness of hypertension among patients. Results: The majority of patients had moderate-to-high knowledge (101, 65.8%) about hypertension and had moderate-to-high awareness (111, 73.2%) on hypertension. Even though, 134 (87.6%) patients knew that they have hypertension, and 108 (70.6%) patients did not know their blood pressure value at the time of diagnosis. Most of the patients (90, 58.8%) had good drug adherence, and most of them (141, 92.1%) thought that taking medicine plays a key role to control their blood pressure. The main reasons for nonadherence of medication were forgetfulness (39, 32%) and expenses (46, 35.4%). The knowledge and awareness about hypertension among respondents were significantly associated with educational level (p &lt; 0.05) Conclusion: Most of the patients had adequate knowledge on the risk factors and complications of hypertension. But they were unaware about their disease status, and their diagnosis, target organ damage and recent blood pressure values. The drug adherence was reasonably adequate. The main reasons for nonadherence of medication were forgetfulness and expenses. </jats:sec