Metabolic Control in Type 2 Diabetes Correlates Weakly with Patient Adherence to Oral Hypoglycaemic Treatment

Abstract

Patient adherence to treatment is viewed as essential to good metabolic control in diabetes. Our primary objective was to determine if self-reported patient adherence correlated strongly with metabolic control. Our secondary objective was to determine the natural grouping of factors which influence adherence. Data were collected using a questionnaire set with 5-point Likert scales. Primary analysis was done using Spearman's correlation coefficient between self-reported composite adherence scores and HbA1c. Secondary analysis was done using exploratory factor analysis. The primary analysis suggests that patient adherence to the treatment regime is weakly correlated to metabolic control. Calculated Spearman's rho was 0.197, with a two-tailed P value of 0.027. The secondary analysis demonstrates the natural clustering of factors that influence patient adherence to treatment. A 6-factor solution was found to account for most of the variance in the data. We also found that feelings of frustration, anxiety, and depression were associated with a lack of knowledge about diabetes treatment. In addition, belief in traditional medicine correlated strongly with ethnicity. A good treatment regime for type 2 diabetes mellitus influences metabolic outcome far more than patient adherence.