IMPACTO DEL CONOCIMIENTO SOBRE LOS EFECTOS ADVERSOS DE ANTIHIPERTENSIVOS EN LA CALIDAD DE VIDA DE LOS PACIENTES CON HIPERTENSIÓN ARTERIAL

Abstract

Hypertension (HTN) is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases today. Although the efficacy of the drugs is very good, the adverse effects they entail can cause a negative effect on the quality of life of the patients with this disease. It is important to evaluate the level of knowledge about antihypertensive drugs and the quality of life of patients with HTN in different regions since geographical factors create heterogeneity in the results of different studies. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the level of knowledge about the adverse effects of antihypertensives and their relationship with quality of life in patients with HTN. A knowledge-level questionnaire was created and validated and the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used. A null/low level of knowledge about the adverse effects of antihypertensives was determined in 70% of the participants. However, most participants were found to have good quality of life in the domains of physical health (57.3%), psychological health (53.6%), social relations (41.8%), and environmental health (60.9%). Finally, no significant difference was found in the quality of life scores of the 4 WHOQOL-BREF domains according to the different levels of knowledge, so it is concluded that there is no relationship between both variables.