Adherence to treatment and quality of life of patients with hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction
Reduced accessibility to routine follow-up visits in GP surgeries during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the failure to report to health care facilities for fear of infection may have disrupted doctor-patient cooperation and worsened adherence to therapeutic recommendations.

Aim of the research
To examine the quality of life of patients with arterial hypertension and their assessment adherence to therapeutic recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Material and methods
A total of 103 hypertensive patients of the Independent Public Healthcare Centre of the Ministry of Interior and Administration in Wroclaw were examined. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Adherence in Chronic Diseases Scale (ACDS) were used.

Results
The mean score for perception of quality of life was 3.64 ±0.73. Quality of life was rated best in the psychological domain (M = 15.05, SD = 2.42) and worst in the physical domain (M = 13.25, SD = 2.67). 57.28% (59/103) of the respondents had medium adherence, 23.30% (24/103) had low adherence, and 19.42% (20/103) had high adherence. The level of adherence was significantly better among patients keeping a self-monitoring diary compared to those who did not keep such a diary (24.19 ±2.86 vs. 21.86 ±4.56, p = 0.007). Patient age (r = 0.323, p = 0.001) and systolic blood pressure value (r = –0.193, p = 0.05) significantly correlated with adherence level. The higher the level of adherence, the better the quality of life in the psychological (r = 0.197, p = 0.046) and social (r = 0.198, p = 0.045) domains.

Conclusions
Adherence to the therapeutic plan and good patient-doctor cooperation are extremely important for the level of quality of life of hypertensive patients.