Background: The perception of family support is pivotal in improving the health and wellbeing of elderly individuals through adherence to medication especially among diabetics. This study investigated the relationship between perceptions of family social and medication adherence among elderly diabetic patients attending the outpatient clinics of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Methodology: This was a cross sectional, hospital-based study carried out among 199 randomly selected elderly diabetic patients receiving care in LUTH. Data including sociodemographic information, medication use, and procurement were obtained using an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire. Perceived family social support was assessed and scored using the Perceived Social Support from Family Scale (PSS-Fa) and categorized as ‘strong’ (scores ≥ 11), ‘weak’ (scores 7-10) and ‘none’(scores≤6) while medication adherence was measured using the Morisky medication adherence scale (MMS-8). Medication adherence was rated high (score = 8), medium (scores= 6–7) and low (scores≤5). Association between perceived support and medication adherence was investigated by Chi-square test. Level of significance was p-value<0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 68.6 ± 6.7 years. The proportion of the participants who had strong, weak and no perceived family support were 92.5%, 3.5% and 4.0% respectively. Over two-thirds of participants (72.9%) reported family as responsible for providing funds to procure their medications while almost a quarter (23.6%) bought their medications by themselves. Only 2 (1.0%) participants relied on medical insurance to procure their medications. Almost half (49.7%) of them had high levels of medication adherence. Significant association existed between perceived family social support and medication adherence (ꭓ2 = 7.626; p-value = 0.027). Conclusion: Most participants had strong perceived family social support which was significantly associated with medication adherence. We recommend the routine assessment of family social support when dealing with geriatric patients as can improve medication adherence and ultimately better outcome of care

Background: Glycaemic control in the elderly diabetic patient is highly individualized and achieving desired targets in the presence of comorbid conditions could be very challenging. This study was conducted to assess the glycemic control of elderly diabetics and identify associated factors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Methods: A hospital-based, cross-sectional descriptive study involving 199 randomly selected elderly diabetic patients receiving care at LUTH. A pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaire was used in data collection, which include sociodemographic characteristics, clinical history, and glycaemic control. Glycemic control was assessed using glycated haemoglobin (HBA1C). HBA1C<7.0% was tight; 7-8% targeted and >8% poor glycaemic control. Associations between glycemic control and independent variables was assessed using the chi-square test and its predictors identified by logistic regression analysis. Level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 68.6 years ± 6.7 years. Tight and poor glycemic control was seen in 35.1% and 34.2% respectively. Significant associations existed between glycemic control, age (ꭓ2 =9.310; p – 0.010), and marital status (ꭓ2 = 9.934; p – 0.007). Independent predictors include >2 antidiabetic medication (aOR – 2.55; p – 0.048) Conclusion: Poor glycaemic control was high among the elderly and there was a negative correlation between age and glycaemic control among the participants. Statistically significant association was also found between glycaemic control and marital status of the participants as well as the number of diabetic medications, the presence of co-morbid conditions and adherence to medications. The need for individualized care among elderly diabetics cannot be overemphasized in order to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia, improve clinical outcome, while considering other factors which could have an impact on glycaemic control among the elderly.