Arterial hypertension is a relevant public health problem as it is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, the major cause of mortality in Brazil. Low compliance and treatment dropout are among the main obstacles to individual control strategies. This study aimed at assessing the reasons for failure in medical appointment follow-up among a cohort of patients under treatment for four years in a primary care service. Thus, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 individuals who had dropped out of medical appointments. Statements were assessed by using thematic content analysis. The reported reasons for dropping out were most frequently related with the healthcare service itself - its organization and structure, and doctor-patient relationship - or treatment at another healthcare service. The reasons related with the patients themselves, such as absence of symptoms, improvement and/or normalization of arterial hypertension, as well as alcohol consumption contributed to the discontinuation of the treatment. To study the reasons for treatment dropout through the patients' eyes showed the abundance and diversity of problems involved.
Arterial hypertension; Dropout; Primary healthcare; Healthcare service