The Role of Health Care Quality in Hypertension Self-Management: A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Patients in a Public Hospital, North-West Ethiopia

• Main Authors: Hussien M, Muhye A, Abebe F, Ambaw F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-04-01
• Series: Integrated Blood Pressure Control
• Subjects: hypertension; self-management; health care quality; patient experience
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/the-role-of-health-care-quality-in-hypertension-self-management-a-qual-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-IBPC

Mohammed Hussien,1 Ahmed Muhye,2 Fantu Abebe,3,4 Fentie Ambaw3 1Department of Health Systems Management and Health Economics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia; 2Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dire-Dawa University, Dire-Dawa, Ethiopia; 3School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia; 4Jhpiego Corporation, Ethiopia Country Office, Bahir Dar, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Mohammed Hussien P.O. Box: 79, Bahir Dar, 6000, EthiopiaTel [phone]Email [e-mail]: Hypertension is becoming a global epidemic in all population groups. For its effective management and control, patients should have enhanced self-management skills and get adequate support from care providers. Although the quality of health care is critical in enhancing self-management behaviors of patients with hypertension, the issue has not been fully explored in the Ethiopian context. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the experience of hypertensive patients on the quality of health care and the self-management practice in a public hospital in North-west Ethiopia.Patients and Methods: This qualitative study involves a phenomenological approach. Participants were hypertension patients who are on treatment follow-up. They were recruited purposively with maximum variation approach. Eleven in-depth interviews and two key informant interviews were undertaken using a semi-structured interview guide with hypertensive patients and nurses respectively. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated into English, and then analyzed thematically by the investigators.Results: The analysis identified two main themes and seven sub-themes. The first theme “experience in self-management practice” describes medication adherence, lifestyle modification, and self-monitoring of blood pressure. The second theme “experience in the quality of health care” discusses access to health services, patient-centered care, behavior of health care providers, and time and patient flow management.Conclusion: The self-management practice of hypertensive patients is sub-optimal. Although several individual patient issues were identified, facility-level problems are mainly responsible for poor self-management practice. The main facility-level barriers, as reported by participants, include shortage of medicines, high cost of medicines, busyness of doctors due to high patient load, lack of appropriate education and counseling services, poor patient-provider interaction, and long waiting times. Intervention areas should focus on providing appropriate training for health care providers to enhance the patient–provider relationship. Improving the supply of hypertensive medications is also paramount for better medication adherence.Keywords: hypertension, self-management, health care quality, patient experience