Information Behaviour and Medication Adherence among Hypertensive and Diabetic Patients in Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined the relationship between use of information and medication adherence among hypertensive and diabetic patients in tertiary care teaching hospital in Lagos State, Nigeria. It also explored the factors that influence hypertensive and diabetic patients’ choice of information sources. The research is a descriptive survey that used a questionnaire to collect data. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting four diabetic and hypertension clinics in University of Lagos Teaching Hospital. The convenience sampling technique was used in selecting the patients. Participants comprised 134 hypertensive and diabetic patients. Data were collected at the clinics. Result shows that majority of the respondents 52.3. % and 23.1% either very highly utilized or highly utilized healthcare personnel such as doctors, pharmacists and nurses as their major sources of information. While 16.4 % and 19.4% of the respondents either very highly utilized or highly utilized pharmacy stores as information sources. The main factors that influence their choice of information source were credibility and relevance of the source (70.9%) and easy access to information source (53.0%). Majority of the respondents (40.3%) reported that their level of adherence to medication was good while 32.1% reported that their level of adherence to medication was very good. The study also found that there is a strong positive relationship between information sources use and attitude towards medication adherence (rho=0.726, P (0.031) <0.05). The findings may enhance understanding of the influence of information source use and medication adherence. It can also assist medical professionals and medical librarians in meeting the information needs of hypertensive and diabetic patients.