Introduction:

Arterial hypertension (AH) is a global risk factor for morbidity and mortality and the main cause of premature death, largely affecting women. The purpose of the study was to understand how migrant women (MW) with AH configure their therapeutic itineraries (TI) in the search for health care in Colombia, from the health-disease-care process.

Methods:

Qualitative study with a grounded theory approach. 16 interviews and two focus groups were conducted with MW with AH in Popayán Colombia. Intentional theoretical sampling was carried out until reaching theoretical saturation and the abstraction of emerging categories through open, axial and selective coding.

Results:

Open coding generated 1,135 codes. The main emerging category was that TI in AH care are determined by social, cultural, political, and economic dynamics. As related subcategories emerged: the risks of getting sick from AH configure TI; heterogeneity of formal and informal therapeutic resources arises to attend to the disease; there are determinants of access to the health system; and mobilization of various practices for monitoring and control of the disease.

Conclusion:

Women in a situation of migration with AH configure TI to achieve health care not only from the state health system, but from various elements of the social, cultural, political and economic order. To this extent, AH goes beyond morbid nominations exclusive to biomedicine and the doctor-patient relationship, to address and transcend towards a condition that requires resolving contingencies of the context.

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