Self-Care in Patients With Hypertension in Indonesia

Abstract

Hypertension or elevated blood pressure is one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. One strategy to better treat hypertension is to involve patients in their own self-care. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in West Java, Indonesia, from June to July 2021. A convenience sample of 144 adults with hypertension was used. The inclusion criteria were: people aged 35 to 65; prescribed two or fewer antihypertensive drugs for hypertension; with a blood pressure of more than 140/90 mm Hg at baseline; able to control their blood pressure and self-titrate medicine; and able to read and write in Bahasa Indonesia. The SC-HI is a 24-item questionnaire that assesses self-care in hypertension on three dimensions: self-care maintenance, management, and confidence. Linear regression analyses were used to investigate self-care and its associated factors. The average age of the patients was 55.67 ± 10.65 years, 59.7% were female, 77.8% were married, and 48.6% had finished secondary school. The mean overall self-care score among the hypertensive patients was 2.43 (SD = 1.26). The self-care domain with the lowest mean score was in confidence (mean = 2.12, SD = 1.96) and the highest score was in maintenance (mean = 2.86, SD = 2.01). Gender, education level, and duration of hypertension contributed significantly to the variance in self-care with an R-squared of 23.4%. We found that the level of self-care in the hypertensive patients in general was inadequate. Patients should be educated and counseled about the importance of adherence to self-care in the management of hypertension. Keywords: self-care, hypertension, self-management