PURPOSE: Little is known on the beliefs, perceptions and practices of hypertension specialists in addressing non-adherence to therapy. Therefore, a survey was undertaken amongst healthcare professionals (HCPs) managing hypertension in the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Centres of Excellence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional data were obtained between December 2020 and April 2021 using an online anonymous structured questionnaire including 26 questions/136 items, that was sent to all ESH Excellence centres. RESULTS: Overall 67 from 187 centres (37.3%) responded and 200 HCPs from 30 countries answered the questionnaire. Participants (60% men) were mainly physicians (91%) and nurses (8%) from University hospitals (77%). Among physicians, 83% had >10 years professional experience. Average time dedicated to discuss medications was 1-5 min in 48% and 6-10 min in 29% of cases. Interviews with patients about adherence were the most frequently used assessment method. Chemical detection of medications in urine was available in 36% of centres. One third of physicians involved their patients regularly in treatment decisions. The most frequent methods to improve adherence included simplification of medication therapy, more frequent visits, and home blood pressure monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: The level of implementation of tools to detect and improve adherence in hypertension management by HCPs in ESH excellence centres is low. Structured educational activities focussing on adherence management and access to the newest objective measures to detect non-adherence might improve these deficits.

Cardiology Department Klinikum Wels Grieskirchen Wels Austria

Department of Hypertension National Institute of Cardiology Warsaw Poland

Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology Ostrava University Hospital Ostrava Czech Republic

Departments of Internal Medicine and Hospital Pharmacy Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam The Netherlands

Division of Cardiology Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc Brussels Belgium

Faculty of Medicine University of Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic

Hospital Garcia de Orta Almada Portugal

Hypertension Department and DMU CARTE AP HP Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou Paris France

INSERM CIC1418 Université de Paris Paris France

Institute of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Humboldt Universität zu Berlin Berlin Germany

Pole of Cardiovascular Research Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique Université Catholique de Louvain Brussels Belgium

Service of Nephrology and Hypertension University Hospital Lausanne Switzerland

The Department of Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Diseases Leicester Royal Infirmary Leicester UK

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