Assessing Barriers to and Level of Adherence to Hypertension Therapy among Palestinians Living in the Gaza Strip: A Chance for Policy Innovation

Table 9

Reported barriers to adherence to hypertension therapy.

Barrier	Mean	SD
(1) I am unable to do exercise	2.716	1.774
(2) I like fast and fried food	2.567	1.440
(3) I like salty foods (I cannot keep myself away from salty foods)	2.434	1.520
(4) In general, I do not like medications	2.423	1.517
(5) My medication is too expensive	2.370	1.540
(6) I have to take too many medications every day	2.346	1.525
(7) My medication is not available	2.095	1.454
(8) I experience side effects from medication	2.088	1.416
(9) I have no time for regular exercise in my life	2.017	1.537
(10) Lack of motivation as there is no cure	2.013	1.392
(11) I am not interested in doing exercise	2.002	1.529
(12) I find it difficult to follow my treatment regime	1.997	1.252
(13) I forget to take my medication	1.956	1.338
(14) I do not want to take my medication	1.953	1.347
(15) I am not able to go to the clinic to get my medication	1.911	1.586
(16) I am not interested in stopping smoking	0.363	1.110
(17) I would like to stop smoking, but find it difficult	0.362	1.082