Medication adherence and functional food use in patients with hypertension: a cross sectional study
Discuss this preprint
Start a discussion What are Sciety discussions?Listed in
This article is not in any list yet, why not save it to one of your lists.Abstract
Background
Functional foods are increasingly used by patients with chronic diseases, including hypertension. However, the relationship between functional food use with therapeutic intent and medication adherence remains unclear, particularly among hypertensive patients.
Methods
This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the Japan COVID-19 and Society Internet Survey (JACSIS2024) conducted between December 2024 and January 2025. Participants were included if they reported having hypertension and were currently receiving medical care with medication. Those with ineligible responses were excluded. Participants were classified into functional food users and non-users based on their use of functional foods specifically for treating hypertension. Medication adherence was assessed using the Japanese version of the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). We estimated risk ratios (RRs) for low adherence (MMAS-8 < 6) associated with functional food use using modified Poisson regression with a log link and robust standard errors, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related covariates. Analyses were weighted to adjust for potential selection bias in the Internet-based sample.
Results
A total of 4,063 hypertensive patients receiving medication treatment were analyzed, comprising 586 functional food users and 3,477 non-users. In adjusted and weighted analyses, functional food use was associated with a higher risk of low adherence: RR 1.24 (95% CI, 1.04–1.48).
Conclusions
Hypertensive patients who use functional foods with therapeutic intent demonstrated poorer medication adherence compared to non-users. These findings suggest that functional food use with therapeutic intent may be associated with suboptimal medication adherence, potentially reflecting underlying patient attitudes toward conventional medical treatment. Further longitudinal research is needed to establish causality and explore whether targeted educational interventions could help optimize both functional food use and medication adherence in hypertensive patients.
