Family Social Support Perceptions and Medication Adherence among Elderly Diabetics in a Tertiary Health Institution in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

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

Medication Adherence and Perceived Family Support Among Elderly Patients with Hypertension Attending a Specialty Clinic in Lagos, Nigeria

“…Both studies used the same family support assessment scale (PSS-Fa). [20,22] This trend is similar to findings among varied age groups of hypertensive patients in western Nigeria. [27 -29] The scores obtained with the perceived family support scale (PSS-Fa) are prone to inflation because the respondents may provide socially desirable responses.…”

“…[22] However, some studies have shown that good medication adherence is better with family support. [20,27,35] This difference cannot be ascertained and may be explored in future research.…”

Social Support and Medication Adherence Among People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Central Karnataka, India

“…In the present study majority of study participants were females, married, newly diagnosed, with no hobbits which may be the reason for the hogher social support. This study finding is lower than the study conducted by Ayonote Uzoramaka Angela et al 28 and Iloh & Amadi 29 (77.5%). This difference in observation was due to the study setting, the present study was community-based study compare to previous studies 28,29 which have been conducted in hospitals.…”

“…This study finding is lower than the study conducted by Ayonote Uzoramaka Angela et al 28 and Iloh & Amadi 29 (77.5%). This difference in observation was due to the study setting, the present study was community-based study compare to previous studies 28,29 which have been conducted in hospitals.…”

Equipping pharmacists for delivering pharmaceutical care to seniors: a qualitative systematic review of Asian seniors’ social support

“…Previous quantitative studies have shown that social support was essential to medication adherence in the senior population [ 17 – 20 ]. However, there was scarcely discussion on how seniors perceived and received social support and how understanding that support could equip pharmacists for their practice.…”