Adherence to Medication among the Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Rural Area: A Community based Study

Abstract

Introduction: Adherence to anti-diabetic drugs as shown to improve the glycemic control which then predicts the good long term prognosis and prevents the complications of the Diabetes. Objectives: 1. To assess the Adherence to medication among the Type 2 Diabetic patients 2. To determine the factors associated with the Adherence to Medication Materials & Method: A Community based cross sectional study was conducted for a period of 6 months among type 2 diabetic patients in a rural area. A Non probability sample (convenience sample) of the 70 Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients was selected for the study. Adherence to medication was assessed using eight item Moriskey Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS - 8). The patients were also investigated for the random blood sugar (RBS) using Glucometer Results: Adherence to medication based on the MMAS – 8 scale, 56 patients (80%) had a good adherence & 14 patients (20%) showed poor adherence. Regarding the Random blood sugar (RBS) levels, 54 (77%) patients had uncontrolled RBS levels. The difference in the Adherence level between the Age, Gender, Duration of Diabetes, Literacy Status & RBS values of the patients was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Even though majority of the patients had good Adherence to their medications (80%), their Random blood sugar levels showed uncontrolled values.(>200mg/dl) Therefore along with adherence to medication emphasis should be given on the other aspects like Diet, mental health & social life of the Diabetic patients.