Recommendations from the European Society of Hypertension and European Society of Cardiology to improve drug adherence in hypertensive patients (from [11])

Level of actionRecommendations
Physician level

  • Provide information on the risks of hypertension and the benefits of treatment, as well as agreeing on a treatment strategy to achieve and maintain blood pressure control using lifestyle measures and a single-pill-based treatment strategy when possible (information material, programmed learning, and computer-aided counseling)

  • Empowerment of the patient

  • Feedback on behavioral and clinical improvements

  • Assessment and resolution of individual barriers to adherence

  • Collaboration with other healthcare providers, especially nurses and pharmacists

Patient level

  • Self-monitoring of blood pressure (including telemonitoring)

  • Group sessions

  • Instruction combined with motivational strategies

  • Self-management with simple patient-guided systems

  • Use of reminders

  • Obtain family, social, or nurse support

  • Provision of drugs at worksite

Treatment level

  • Simplification of the drug regimen favoring the use of single-pill therapy

  • Reminder packaging

Health system level

  • Supporting the development of monitoring systems (telephone follow-up, home visits, telemonitoring of home blood pressure, and electronic health records)

  • Financially supporting the collaboration between healthcare providers (e.g., pharmacists and nurses)

  • Reimbursement of single-pill combination pills

  • Development of national databases, including prescription data, available for physicians and pharmacists

  • Accessibility to drugs