Race: an explanation of patient compliance--fact or fiction?

This article describes a retrospective study that examines the relationship between patient compliance and race among diagnosed hypertensives in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II). The study reviewed and analyzed the compliance of 403 blacks diagnosed with hypertension. Patient compliance was measured using the frequency that patients took their hypertensive medicine. Bivariate analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship with patient compliance (dependent) and the independent variables (age, education, gender, and smoking). Multiple regression for the black population revealed that the age of the person accounted for the most explained variance. As age increased among blacks, so did compliance. The results may suggest the need to target school-aged blacks early in order to increase the awareness and importance of monitoring one's blood pressure. The results also may indicate that race is not a marker for other characteristics (income, education, etc) that might be used to explain the difference in the prevalence of hypertension among blacks compared with whites.