BMJ 2003;326:103 ( 11 January )

Letters

Patient centred approach may help in hypertension

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---Benson and Britten examined why patients choose to take drug treatment for hypertension and expose the ambivalence some people feel about pharmaceutical intervention for chronic disease.1 We have recently completed a study looking at the reasons a notable proportion of diagnosed hypertensive patients does not return for follow up appointments.

We identified 35 such non-returners in populations from three general practices in Worcester, Droitwich, and Exmouth (approximately 5% of the hypertension registers). Eleven of these patients (age 30-75, median age 62, 6 male, 5 female) were interviewed in their homes and asked their views on their diagnosis, follow up, and treatment options. We analysed transcripts by using standard qualitative techniques.

Many of the themes we identified fit well with those described, notably the dislike of medication and fear of being labelled as sick. We also noted that many of the patients had wider concerns about how regular follow up would affect their perception . . . [Full text of this article]
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