A Cross Sectional Study on Effect of Distress due to Disease, on Medication Adherence in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Diabetes, a common lifestyle disorder, needs strict adherence to medication and self care activities, to maintain good glycemic control. However patients may become distressed due to the disease and its complications, which in turn may affect their motivation. It would be thus worthwhile to assess the impact of diabetes distress on medication adherence. Material and methods: This study was conducted in the Department of Endocrinology at the Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences, Tirupati, a tertiary care teaching hospital. Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) were assessed for presence of distress due to diabetes using Diabetes Distress Scale(DDS) and medication adherence using Morisky Adherence Questionnaire (MAQ). Results: Of the 101 patients recruited, only 5 (4.95%) had a total DDS score ≥ 3 consistent with the presence of distress due to diabetes. However on exploring the various components of the DDS score 41(40.59%) had emotional burden and 15(14.85%) had regimen related distress. Of those 5 patients with diabetes distress, none had good adherence to medication while 64.5% of the remaining 96 patients had good adherence (p=0.007). Conclusion: Diabetes distress (though present in only a minority of patients), is associated with poor adherence to medication regime.