Treatment adherence and factors contributing to non adherence among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in a tertiary care hospital: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most common endocrine disorder and major global public health problem. Lack of adherence to antidiabetic medication has lead to suboptimal blood sugar control, treatment failure, accelerated development of complications and increased mortality, thus medication adherence plays an important role in disease control. Hence present study was taken to evaluate the treatment adherence and factors affecting non adherence among Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.Methods: A cross sectional study carried out by Department of Pharmacology and Medicine, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan. Total 150 patients of type 2 diabetes were recruited after taking their informed consent. Adherence to treatment and factors associated with non adherence has been assessed during a personal interview with each patient using standardized questionnaire.Results: Adherence levels were 28%, 42% and 30% for high, medium and poor adherence respectively. The overall prevalence of non adherence among respondents was 30%. Among them 77.77% were males, 44.44% belonged to age group of 41-60 years, 40% illiterate, 60% employed, 51.11% of patients with smoking and alcoholic habits were not adherent to anti diabetic treatment. Other reasons contributing to non-adherence to treatment were forget fullness (86.66 %), inadequate knowledge about side effects (80%), unhappy clinical visits (71.11 %) and lack of assistance (48.88 %).Conclusions: Results showed that patients in the area of study were moderately adherent to anti-diabetic medications. This emphasizes the need for constant motivation and education at frequent intervals to ensure better adherence.

Comparison of medication adherence between type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who pay for their medications and those who receive it free: a rural Asian experience

“…High cost has been found as a reason for non-adherence by other studies too [39, 40]. Other reasons, such as forgetfulness [34, 36, 38, 39, 41], being away from home [38, 39], complex drug regime [38, 41, 42], and willingness to avoid side effects [38, 39, 41, 42], were similar to previous literature.…”

“…Sri Lankan data using a similar scale was scarce. Kavitha et al had found adherence to be 70% among diabetic patients of Hassan, India, using the eight-item modified Morisky adherence scale [34]. A study from Uganda produced 83.3% adherence to anti-diabetic medications [35].…”