Research question
Which beliefs and behavioral constructs are associated with intentions to initiate antihypertensive medication, and which factors account for the greatest share of explained variation?
Data and methods
A vignette-based cross-sectional survey included 941 adults who had not yet initiated antihypertensive medication. Measures drew from the Theory of Planned Behavior and Health Belief Model. Multivariable regression assessed associations with treatment intentions, and relative-weight analysis ranked predictors.
Selected findings
Background and demographic variables explained 8% of the variation in intentions. Adding seven theory-based predictors increased the explained variation by 65%, yielding 73% overall. Subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and attitudes were the three most influential predictors, accounting for approximately 30.8%, 26.0% and 17.2% of the explained variance, respectively.
Research significance
The work suggests that interventions designed to improve treatment initiation may benefit from targeting the factors most strongly associated with patients' intentions, rather than treating nonadherence as a single undifferentiated behavior.
Scholarly records
ISPOR 2024 / Value in Health abstract PCR257 · DOI · University of Mississippi thesis