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Table 2 Factors inhibiting adherence to medications: thematic matrix of categories, subcategories and concepts (n = 40)
| Category | Sub-category | Concepts |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Healthcare related factors | Inflexible clinic hours | Clinic visits always coincide with religious worship time [n = 3]* |
| Works/farm during clinic hours [n = 10] | ||
| Difficult to refill drugs for longer periods when travelling out of town [n = 6] | ||
| Long waiting time | Less time available for business or other important activities [n = 31] | |
| Logistics/ travel costs constraints | Residence too far from clinic [n = 4] | |
| Medications out of stock | Under dispensed prescriptions [n = 11] | |
| Prescribed pills not dispensed [n = 3] | ||
| 2) Patient related factors | Poor knowledge about hypertension | Hypertension is curable, transient [n = 23] |
| Feels well, no symptoms, so don’t use pills [n = 3] | ||
| 3) Medication related factors | Adverse effects, side effects | Abandon pills to avoid intolerable effects [n = 7] |
| Complexity of prescription regimes | Too many pills prescribed, too frequent dosing to follow [n = 6] | |
| Substitution/supplementation of prescribed medicines | Takes herbal drugs alongside prescribed pills [n = 5] | |
| Takes herbal drugs in place of prescribed pills [n = 2] | ||
| 4) Religion related factors | Medication use discouraged by faith practice | Believes in faith healing [n = 2] |
| Dosing frequency incompatible with faith practice (fasting) [n =13] | ||
| 5) Social factors | None or poor social support | Wife lacks husband’s approval (which is) mandatory for outings – clinic visits [n = 1] |
