Objective Studies have demonstrated that hypertension remains inadequately managed throughout the world, with lack of adherence to BP-lowering medication being a major factor. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if a pharmaceutical care program could improve antihypertensive medication adherence and blood pressure control. Setting This study was conducted in a secondary care hypertension/dyslipidemia outpatient clinic in the university teaching hospital of Cova da Beira Hospital Centre, Covilha˜, located in the Eastern Central Region of Portugal. Method This report evaluates the pharmacist’s interventions during a prospective randomised controlled trial, from July 2009 to June 2010. Patients with diagnosis of essential hypertension attending the clinic for routine follow-up were randomly allocated either to a control group (no pharmaceutical care) or to an intervention group (quarterly follow-up by a hospital pharmacist during a 9- month period). The pharmacist interventions, aimed to increase medication adherence and blood pressure control, involved educational interventions and counselling tips directed to the patient. Main outcome measure Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and blood pressure control (according to JNC 7 guidelines) assessed at the baseline visit and at the end of pharmaceutical care were the main outcome measures. Blood pressure measurements were performed by blinded nurses. Medication adherence was also evaluated, using a validated questionnaire at baseline and at the end of investigation. Results A total of 197 hypertensive patients were randomly assigned to the study (99 in the control group and 98 in the intervention group). Although there were no significant differences (P[0.05) in both groups concerning mean age, gender, body mass index, and antihypertensive pharmacotherapy, blood pressure control was higher in the intervention group (P = 0.005) at the end of the study. Significant lower systolic blood pressure (-6.8 mmHg, P = 0.006) and diastolic blood pressure (-2.9 mmHg, P = 0.020) levels were observed in the intervention group. Medication adherence was also significantly higher in the intervention group at the end of the study (74.5% vs. 57.6%, P = 0.012).Conclusion Pharmacist intervention can significantly improve medication adherence and blood pressure control in patients treated with antihypertensive agents.

Background: Although hypertension is, in most cases, a controllable major risk factor in the development of cardiovascular disease, studies have demonstrated that hypertension remains poorly controlled in Portugal. Our aim was to evaluate the covariates associated with poor blood pressure (BP) control in a Portuguese hypertensive population. Patients and Results: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a hospital hypertension outpatient clinic, located in the Eastern Central Region of Portugal. Patients attending the clinic from July to September 2009 were asked to participate in a structured interview including medication adherence and knowledge about hypertension. Eligible participants were all adults aged 18 or over with an established diagnosis of arterial hypertension and had been on antihypertensive drug treatment for at least 6 months. Exclusion criteria were dementia, pregnancy, and breastfeeding. Detailed clinical information was prospectively obtained from medical records. A total of 197 patients meeting the inclusion criteria and consenting to participate completed the interview. Of these, only 33.0% had their BP controlled according to the JNC 7 guidelines. Logistic regression analysis revealed three independent predictors of poor BP control: living alone (OR = 5.3, P = 0.004), medication nonadherence (OR = 4.8, P < 0.001), and diabetes (OR = 4.4, P = 0.011). Predictors of medication nonadherence were: unawareness of target BP values (OR = 3.7, P < 0.001), a report of drug side effects (OR = 3.7, P = 0.002), lack of BP monitoring (OR = 2.5, P = 0.015) and unawareness of medication indications (OR = 2.4, P = 0.021), and of hypertension risks (OR = 2.1, P = 0.026). Conclusions: Poor medication adherence, lack of information about hypertension, and side effects should be considered as possible underlying causes of uncontrolled BP and must be addressed in any intervention aimed to improve BP control.

Background Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of using an asthma app to support medication management and adherence but failed to compare with other measures currently used in clinical practice. However, in a clinical setting, any additional adherence measurement must be evaluated in the context of both the patient and physician perspectives so that it can also help improve the process of shared decision making. Thus, we aimed to compare different measures of adherence to asthma control inhalers in clinical practice, namely through an app, patient self-report and physician assessment. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of three prospective multicentre observational studies with patients (≥13 years old) with persistent asthma recruited from 61 primary and secondary care centres in Portugal. Patients were invited to use the InspirerMundi app and register their inhaled medication. Adherence was measured by the app as the number of doses taken divided by the number of doses scheduled each day and two time points were considered for analysis: 1-week and 1-month. At baseline, patients and physicians independently assessed adherence to asthma control inhalers during the previous week using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS 0–100). Results A total of 193 patients (72% female; median [P25–P75] age 28 [19–41] years old) were included in the analysis. Adherence measured by the app was lower (1 week: 31 [0–71]%; 1 month: 18 [0–48]%) than patient self-report (80 [60–95]) and physician assessment (82 [51–94]) (p < 0.001). A negligible non-significant correlation was found between the app and subjective measurements (ρ 0.118–0.156, p > 0.05). There was a moderate correlation between patient self-report and physician assessment (ρ = 0.596, p < 0.001). Conclusions Adherence measured by the app was lower than that reported by the patient or the physician. This was expected as objective measurements are commonly lower than subjective evaluations, which tend to overestimate adherence. Nevertheless, the low adherence measured by the app may also be influenced by the use of the app itself and this needs to be considered in future studies.

Adherence to therapies is a primary determinant of treatment success. Lack of medication adherence is often associated with medical and psychosocial issues due to complications from underlying conditions and is an enormous waste of medical resources. Dose Administration Aid Service (DAAS) can be seen as part of the solution, allowing individual medicine doses to be organized according to the dosing schedule determined by the patient’s prescriber. The most recent systematic reviews admit the possibility of a positive impact of this service. In line with this background, the study reported in this paper aimed to characterize DAAS implementation in Portugal and understand the perceptions of pharmacists and owners of community pharmacies regarding the impact of DAAS, preferred methodology types, and State contribution. The study was guided by qualitative description methodology and reported using the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) checklist. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 pharmacists and/or owners of community pharmacies. Using qualitative content analysis, we identified categories that revealed that automated weekly methodology is the preferred methodology, because of its easiness of use and lower cost of preparation. However, the investment cost was felt to be too high by the participants considering the number of potential users for implementation in practice. Participants were also unanimous in recognizing that DAAS has a very positive impact in terms of safety and medication adherence, and the majority agreed that it also helped reduce medication waste. Implications of these findings for medication adherence are discussed.

Introduction: Pharmaceutical care is a practice model that allows direct interaction between the pharmacist and the patient and the healthcare team. This practice uses the pharmacotherapeutic follow-up as a tool in the identification and resolution of Drug Related Problems, which can contribute to rational drug use and collaborate with achieving positive clinical outcomes that minimize the physical and psychosocial impact that chronic diseases and their treatment can promote the quality of life of patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of pharmaceutical care on quality of life and on clinical profile of patients with hypertension, assisted by the Family Health Strategy. Methods: Was conducted a longitudinal intervention study involving 29 patients with hypertension who were assisted by the Family Health Strategy of two Basic Health Units at the sanitary district north in the city of Goiânia - GO. They received pharmacotherapeutic follow-up for 12 months, through systematized, pre-schedule and documented home visits. Were included patients that had at least two of the following inclusion criteria: blood pressure greater than or equal to 140x90 mm ​​Hg, using three or more drugs, change in the therapeutic regimen two or more times in the last year , presence of co-morbidities, and history of non-adherence to antihypertensive therapy. Data collection was performed using follow-up pharmacotherapeutic reports, visits reports and form registration of clinical and laboratory parameters, “Mini Cuestionario de Calidad de Vida en Hipertensión Arterial” (Minichal) and Morisky-Green-Levine Questionnaire. The variables studied were the socio economic and demographic profile, clinical profile, lifestyle, Drug Related Problems, adherence to antihypertensive therapy and quality of life. For descriptive statistics were used mean, standard deviation and measures of absolute and relative frequency. For statistical tests were used the McNemar parametric test, odds ratio, and linear mixed models, generalized mixed models, linear mixed models. The threshold for statistical significance set at p <0.05, with a confidence interval of 95%.Results: The results showed that there was a reduction in the number of drug-related problem of security, increased self-reported adherence to antihypertensive treatment. There was improvement in quality of life related to the somatic manifestations domain and its correlation with the reduction in the number of drug-related problem of security. There was a significant reduction in abdominal circumference of female patients, there were found correlation between the quality of life for the somatic manifestations domain and the clinical outcomes of diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides and abdominal circumference. Just the diastolic blood pressure showed correlated with mental state domain of quality of life. There was a positive correlation between interventions directed to the patient related with the medications domain and the changes in the clinical results for fasting glucose. The life style domain presented correlation with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Conclusions: The results showed that the pharmaceutical care reduced the number of security Drug Related Problems, improved quality of life related to the somatic manifestations domain. There was an increase in adherence to antihypertensive treatment declared by patients; however this did not influence the improvement of quality of life. Furthermore, the results revealed that there was a significant reduction in the women's measures abdominal circumference; that the pharmaceutical interventions directed to the patient influenced in the clinical results of fasting glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure; and that the changes observed in the clinical outcomes of diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides and abdominal circumference impacted on the quality of life related to the somatic manifestations.

Introduction: Systemic arterial hypertension is indicated as the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The treatment and control are a challenge to the effective management of the hypertensive patient, even front to the vast technical and therapeutic apparatus available. In this context, a adherence is one of the main explanatory variables for the challenge of the clinical monitoring team of the hypertensive. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between hospitalization and adherence to antihypertensive therapy in patients hospitalized for cardiovascular diseases in hospital units in the city of Jataí (GO). Methods: This was a controlled, observational, cross - sectional study developed in Jataí, a small city in the state of Goiás. The study included hypertensive patients hospitalized for cardiovascular causes in hospital units (hospital network) and by hypertensive patients undergoing clinical follow up in primary care (primary care). The data were obtained between September and December of 2017, with the use of a data collection instrument and the Informed Consent Term to the eligible patients. For the evaluation of adhesion, the Morisky Levine Green Test (TMG) was applied. The analysis was performed through the SPSS IBM software version 23.0; Variables were analyzed using the Kolmogorov Smirnof test, for comparing the means with the Student's T-test for independent samples and the Mann Whitney test for comparison of medians, where it was not parametric. The categorical variables were compared with the chi-square test. All tests were true for a significance level of 5% and 95% confidence interval. Results: In the analysis between the groups there was a lower tendency in the group of patients of the hospital network, but without significance; a rate of adherence in the hospital was 38.1% and primary care 51.2%. An intentionality of non-adherence between the groups was similar. Compared with the primary care group, patients in the hospital had higher blood pressure levels. Pressure control, when analyzed between groups, had the lowest frequency (p = 0.038) among the patients in the hospital network. The mean frequency found was 76.8% with the previous diagnosis, with women recording a higher proportion; 63.4% had uncontrolled blood pressure and 74.4% of patients had multimorbidities. The frequency of previous hospitalizations among hospital patients was significantly higher. The hypertensive crisis was the main cause of hospital admission, being more prevalent among women (p = 0.016). Stroke was a third major cause of hospitalization, presenting greater importance among men. Conclusion: the study is not related to the statistically significant progression between treatment and hospitalization for cardiovascular disease. However, patients with sedentarism, previous hospitalization and multimorbity presented more risk about hospitalization for cardiovascular disease.