Effects of Labelling Quality on Hypertensive Patients’ Knowledge and Adherence in Mataram

Abstract

Hypertension is a chronic condition that requires long-term treatment, hence, adherence has been a major issue. The dispensed medication label has been commonly used to provide written information to optimize drug use in achieving treatment goals. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of improved labeling quality on knowledge and adherence of hypertensive patients in Mataram. This is a pre-/post-intervention study with improved labeling quality (according to Good Dispensing Practice (GDP) standard–9 attributes) as the intervention. The differences in knowledge, adherence, and blood pressure pre-/post-intervention were statistically tested. A total of 132 patients from 11 Public Health Center in Mataram participated in this study from August to October 2017. The results showed a baseline labeling score of 3.6, and after the intervention (improved labeling), a maximum score of 9 was achieved. Knowledge was significantly increased through improved labeling (median score from 2.0 to 5.0; p=0.001). In addition, the intervention enhanced adherence (median score from 1.0 to 2.0; p=0.001). Significant changes were reported in systolic and diastolic blood pressure pre-/post-intervention (p=0.001 and 0.026, respectively). Therefore, preliminary data were provided on the potential of high-quality labeling to improve knowledge and adherence among hypertensive patients in Mataram.