The Effect of Brief Motivational Interviewing on Medication Adherence among Adult Hypertensive patients attending a Tertiary Hospital Primary Care Clinic in North-Central Nigeria: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Abstract
Background - Non-adherence to hypertensive medications is a major problem among adult hypertensive patients in developing countries. Although several clinical trials have shown brief motivational interviewing to be effective for adopting and maintaining health-related behaviours in chronic disease patients, its effect on medication adherence remains untested in this population in Nigeria.
Methods - This single-blind randomized controlled trial tested the effect of brief motivational interviewing on medication adherence among 132 adult hypertensive patients attending the General Outpatient Clinic (GOPC) of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos, Nigeria. The intervention offered was brief motivational interviewing delivered four-weekly in a structured format for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was medication adherence measured using an interviewer-administered Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8).
Result - Baseline medication adherence was 32.3% and 43.5% for the intervention and control groups respectively (χ2 = 1.705, p = 0.192). At the end of the study, the between-group difference in medication adherence was 35.7% (p = <0.001) in favour of the intervention group. Medication adherence improved significantly by 63.1% within the intervention group (p = <0.001).
Conclusion - Brief motivational interviewing caused significant improvement in the medication adherence of adult hypertensive patients attending the General Outpatient Clinic of the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos.