Abstract
BackgroundTreatment plans fail if patients have poor medication adherence. Our aim was to compare medication adherence, reasons for non-adherence, and satisfaction with community support among type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who pay for their medications and those who receive it free.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, among patients who were on oral anti-diabetic drugs for at least 3 months. They were grouped into two: universal-free group and fee-paying group. Three different scales were used to score medication adherence, reasons for non-adherence, and satisfaction with community support. Fisher’s exact test was performed to determine if there was a significant difference between the two groups (p < 0.05) concerning medication adherence and satisfaction with community support.ResultsThe median (IQR) medication adherence scores for fee-paying group and universal-free group were 3 (2-3) and 3 (3-3), respectively; the median (IQR) scores for satisfaction with community support were 5 (2–6) and 4 (4–6), respectively. Both the adherence and the satisfaction failed to show a significant difference between the two groups. Forgetfulness, being away from home, complex drug regime, and willingness to avoid side effects were common reasons of non-adherence for both the groups.ConclusionsThere was no significant difference in medication adherence between the universal-free group and fee-paying group, despite of having a significantly different income. The universal-free health service would be a probable reason.
Highlights
Treatment plans fail if patients have poor medication adherence
Studies are scarce on medication adherence among diabetes mellitus (DM) patients of rural Sri Lanka and on comparison of adherence between patients who pay for their medications and those who receive it free
Study setting The study setting for the selection of patients who pay for their medication was the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka
Summary
Treatment plans fail if patients have poor medication adherence. The goal of prescribed medical therapy is to improve the patient’s disease condition. Despite efforts of healthcare professionals, achievement of this goal may be impeded if the patients are non-adherent to medical advice and treatment [1]. Non-adherence to prescribed treatment is a leading problem among patients with non-communicable diseases (NCD) worldwide and medication adherence in Rathish et al Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition (2019) 38:4 developed countries was only 50% [3, 6]. NCD are slowly progressive chronic diseases and patients have to live with it. This might be a cause for poor medication adherence in NCD [7]. Four out of five NCD deaths in 2008 occurred in low- and middle-income countries [8]
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