![]() This is especially important given the growing burden of hypertension in the Philippines, 10 where cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) now constitute the leading cause of death. We analyse their explanatory models to propose a ‘folk physiology’ 20 that can explain their perceptions of causes of hypertension, drawing from qualitative data (semistructured interviews and FGDs). Here we contribute to this literature by identifying ways that Filipino patients with hypertension, particularly in low-income families, conceptualise their condition. Although such studies make important contributions to the evidence base, ethnomedicinal studies that explore underlying lay concepts of health and illness that inform patient behaviours are lacking. ![]() Rueda-Baclig and Florencio 17 provide a rare exception, conducting focus group discussions (FGDs) among young adults without any history of hypertension to elicit their understanding of the disease, documenting several perceived causes, including food, lifestyle-related factors, environment and physical activity. Most scholarly attention to hypertension in the Philippines has focused on biomedical aspects of treatment, epidemiology and clinical outcomes, largely ignoring its social and cultural dimensions. However, despite health promotion campaigns that have focused on modifiable risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol use, diet and exercise, 13 hypertension prevention and control remain a challenge, especially among low-income patients 14 with intention, knowledge and healthcare system factors serving as barriers to care. ![]() 9 Recognising the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, now affecting one in four Filipinos, with higher rates in urban areas, 10–12 the Department of Health is promoting health education and provision of antihypertensive medications. Recent health reforms in the Philippines-including increased revenue from tobacco taxes- have increased access to free medications and improved patient care. 5–8 Such an understanding can support adherence-promoting interventions that move beyond the knowledge deficit model (ie, that poor adherence is simply due to poor health literacy). 2 Despite existence of safe, cheap and effective treatment, lay perceptions of hypertension can be a barrier to control 3 4 through poor adherence to treatment. 1 Understanding these models is especially important for hypertension, a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke. Cultural beliefs structure how people make sense of health and illness, forming ‘explanatory models’ which ‘offer explanations of sickness and treatment to guide choices among available therapies and therapists and to cast personal and social meaning on the experience of sickness’.
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