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Background <p>Hypertension is a major public health concern in urban settings due to lifestyle factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and stress. Effective self-care practices including medication adherence and lifestyle modifications are essential for maintaining blood pressure control and preventing complications. However, adherence to these practices remains inconsistent. Hence, understanding self-care behaviours among adults is important for strengthening hypertension management strategies. The study objective is to determine the self-care practices among hypertensive individuals aged 30&#xa0;years and above to assess perceived social support among hypertensive individuals.</p> Materials and methods <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of six months among 240 hypertensive individuals aged 30&#xa0;years and above at an Urban Health Training Center (UHTC) affiliated with a tertiary care teaching hospital in Hyderabad. Participants were selected from a sampling frame of 500 using simple random sampling from a follow-up register. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire incorporating the H-SCALE for assessing medication adherence, diet, physical activity, tobacco exposure, alcohol intake, and weight management, and MSPSS scale for evaluating perceived social support.</p> Results <p>Among the 240 study participants (Mean Age ± SD: 55.2 ± 12.7&#xa0;years; 51.7% male), 48.8% had good self-care practices. Domain wise adherence was the highest for alcohol restriction (72.5%), tobacco non-use (67.9%), medication adherence (65.8%) and low-salt diet (62.5%), and lowest for physical activity (42.9%) and weight management (10.8%). After adjusting the sociodemographic and clinical variables using multivariable logistic regression, family history of hypertension emerged as the significant independent predictor with affected individuals less likely to engage in self-care than those without a family history (AOR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.30–0.78; <i>p</i> = 0.003). Among the good self-care practitioners, family-domain MSPSS scores were significantly higher (<i>p</i> = 0.001).</p> Conclusion <p>Nearly half of hypertensive adults demonstrated suboptimal self-care, particularly in weight management and physical activity. Family history independently worsened outcomes, whereas family support improved adherence. These findings underscore the importance of integrating family-centred, theory-driven behavioural interventions into routine hypertension management to meaningfully improve patient outcomes.</p>

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Self-care practices and perceived social support among adults with hypertension attending an urban health training centre in Hyderabad, India

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月20日

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  • Abhishek Pokkuluri,
  • Mary Dello Rebello,
  • Allenki Vineesh,
  • Kamatchi Perumal

摘要

Background

Hypertension is a major public health concern in urban settings due to lifestyle factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and stress. Effective self-care practices including medication adherence and lifestyle modifications are essential for maintaining blood pressure control and preventing complications. However, adherence to these practices remains inconsistent. Hence, understanding self-care behaviours among adults is important for strengthening hypertension management strategies. The study objective is to determine the self-care practices among hypertensive individuals aged 30 years and above to assess perceived social support among hypertensive individuals.

Materials and methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of six months among 240 hypertensive individuals aged 30 years and above at an Urban Health Training Center (UHTC) affiliated with a tertiary care teaching hospital in Hyderabad. Participants were selected from a sampling frame of 500 using simple random sampling from a follow-up register. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire incorporating the H-SCALE for assessing medication adherence, diet, physical activity, tobacco exposure, alcohol intake, and weight management, and MSPSS scale for evaluating perceived social support.

Results

Among the 240 study participants (Mean Age ± SD: 55.2 ± 12.7 years; 51.7% male), 48.8% had good self-care practices. Domain wise adherence was the highest for alcohol restriction (72.5%), tobacco non-use (67.9%), medication adherence (65.8%) and low-salt diet (62.5%), and lowest for physical activity (42.9%) and weight management (10.8%). After adjusting the sociodemographic and clinical variables using multivariable logistic regression, family history of hypertension emerged as the significant independent predictor with affected individuals less likely to engage in self-care than those without a family history (AOR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.30–0.78; p = 0.003). Among the good self-care practitioners, family-domain MSPSS scores were significantly higher (p = 0.001).

Conclusion

Nearly half of hypertensive adults demonstrated suboptimal self-care, particularly in weight management and physical activity. Family history independently worsened outcomes, whereas family support improved adherence. These findings underscore the importance of integrating family-centred, theory-driven behavioural interventions into routine hypertension management to meaningfully improve patient outcomes.