Analysis of the medication compliance of hypertensives and its influential factors

The administration data of the national health insurance and health insurance bills were utilized in this study. The data of 432,915 patients who were at the age of 30 and up and used the out-patient departments of every medical institution located in some regions involving two southern and northern provinces once or more during a 184-day period from July to December. As a result of analyzing their prescription compliance and factors affecting it, the following findings were given: The average rate of the prescription compliance of the patients stood at 61.5 percent. It denoted that they were prescribed to take medicine for approximately 113 days during the six-month(184 days) period of time, and the rate of the patients who complied with the prescriptions just stood at 13.0 percent. They used out-patient department for 4.3 days on the average due to hypertension and they visited 1.1 medical institutions on the average. 94.9 percent just used a medical institution. The largest group (11.6%) suffered from diabetes as co-morbidity, and 23.3 percent of the hypertensives had co-morbidity. Concerning the relationship between their characteristics and prescription compliance, those who were male, who were beneficiaries of the national health insurance, who mainly used general hospitals and who suffered from co-morbidity complied better with the prescription they got. Their prescription compliance got better at the age of 65 to 74 and got worse afterwards. As for factors affecting their prescription compliance, the patients who were male, who were aged between 55 and 64 and who were beneficiaries of the national health insurance, who mainly used specialized general hospitals, general hospitals and public health centers and who had heart diseases and diabetes as co-morbidity complied better with the prescriptions. The above-mentioned findings of the study suggested that it's needed to make a factor analysis of the poor prescription compliance of patients from diverse angles, and that existing hypertension care plans should carefully be reviewed to improve the prescription compliance of patients and to find a feasible alternative. As hypertensives are easily likely to develop co-morbidity like diabetes, systematic health education should be provided for them to get into the right life habits such as taking low-salt meals or quitting smoking. In addition, the development of health care programs is required.

고혈압 환자의 투약순응도와 영향 요인 분석

본 연구는 행정자료인 건강보험 및 의료급여비용 청구자료를 이용하였으며, 일개지역(2개도, 남 북)에 개설되어있는 전체 의료기관을 대상으로 진료일 기준 '08.7월~'08.12월(184일)동안 외래 방문이 1회 이상인 30세 이상의 수진자 432,915명을 대상으로 하였다. 투약순응도와 영향 요인을 분석한 결과 아래와 같다. 연구대상자의 투약순응도 평균은 61.5%로 나타났으며, 이는 분석대상기간 6개월(184일)동안 약 113일 정도 처방 받았음을 의미하며, 투약순응군 비율은 13.0%에 불과하였다. 고혈압상병(주 부상병)으로 외래를 방문한 평균 횟수는 4.3일, 방문한 기관수는 평균 1.1곳이었고, 한곳의 의료기관만을 이용한 환자가 전체의 94.9%로 나타났다. 당뇨병을 동반상병으로 가지고 있는 환자가 11.6%로 가장 많았고 고혈압 환자의 23.3%가 동반상병을 가지고 있었다. 투약순응도는 남성, 건강보험 가입자, 종합전문을 주이용기관으로 이용하는 환자, 동반상병을 가지고 있는 환자에서 높게 나타났으며, 65-74세까지 투약 순응도가 증가하다가 그 후 감소하는 경향을 보였다. 투약순응도에 영향을 미치는 요인으로는 남성, 55-64세, 건강보험 가입자가, 종합전문, 종합병원, 보건기관을 주 이용기관으로 방문하는 환자와 심장질환, 당뇨병을 동반상병으로 가지고 있는 환자에서 투약순응도가 높았다. 이상의 연구결과 투약 순응도가 낮은 환자에 대한 다양한 요인분석이 필요하며, 투약 순응도를 높이기 위한 고혈압관리사업의 정책적 검토 및 대안이 필요할 것이다. 또한 고혈압 환자의 경우 당뇨 등 동반상병 비율이 높아 저염식, 금연 등 올바른 생활습관 관리를 위한 체계적 보건교육과 홍보 프로그램을 개발할 필요성이 요구된다.