A study to assess the treatment adherence among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in rural and urban population of Bengaluru, South India

Abstract

Background: Globally, around 425 million adults are victims of diabetes with increased prevalence being noted in low and middle income countries. Diabetes was seventh leading cause of death leading to 1.6 million deaths in 2016 (WHO report). Management of diabetes is multifaceted which includes diet, physical activity, screening for complications and medications. Adherence to pharmacotherapy plays an important role in glycemic control. Hence, this study was done to assess the magnitude of treatment adherence and its associated factors among type 2 diabetics.Methods: A community based study was done on patients with type 2 DM in the rural and urban population of Bengaluru. A simple random sampling technique was followed. Medication adherence was assessed using 8 item Morisky's treatment adherence scale.Results: A total of 250 subjects were interviewed, among them 59% were male and 41% were female. The mean age of the subjects was 60.93±10.1 years. The mean treatment adherence scores was 25.9±3.1 years. Among the 250 diabetics, 62% were adherent and 38% were non adherent to anti diabetic medications. Forgetfulness to take medications was one of the reasons for non-adherence with mean scores of 3.12+0.6.Being illiterate, labourers, aged above 60 years, obesity, frequency and multiple dosage was found to be significant factors for non-adherence (p<0.05).Conclusions: Adherence to anti diabetic drugs was found to be 62%. Increased age, illiteracy, occupation, BMI, frequency and multiple doses of drugs were significant factors responsible for medication non adherence. There is a need for reinforcement of health education and motivation for diabetics to improve their medication adherence.