Adherence to Medication among Hypertensive Diabetic Patients in a Secondary Health Institution in Lagos State

Abstract

Background: Non-adherence to treatment is an important and often unrecognized risk factor that contributes to sub-optimal control of glucose level and blood pressure among hypertensive diabetics. Adequate glycaemic control is of utmost importance in reducing the burden of disease attributable to diabetes, and its complications. Objectives: To assess adherence to medication therapy among hypertensive diabetic patients, determine barriers to medication adherence and evaluate respective clinical outcomes of therapy among hypertensive diabetics. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was carried out using adapted and pretested questionnaire. The degree of adherence was determined and classified as high, medium or low depending on the scores. A total of 216 valid questionnaires were returned and analyzed out of the 300 distributed. Results: Of the study population, females were 121 (56.0%). Half of the respondents (50.0%) were above 60 years of age. Proportions of the subjects with good adherence to antidiabetics and antihypertensive were 17.1% and 22.7% respectively. High cost of medication, fear of side effects as well as poor knowledge of medication and disease complications were the major barriers to medication adherence identified. There was a statistically significant association between adherence and good glycaemic and blood pressure control. Conclusion: Adherence to antihypertensive and anti-diabetic medication was suboptimal among the respondents. Glycaemic and blood pressure control were also poor. Financial constraint, fear of side effects and poor knowledge of disease and medication are some of the significant barriers to medication adherence identified.