Treatment adherence status among diagnosed type 2 diabetics residing in rural and urban areas of district Amritsar – A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Treatment adherence is a pivotal factor in achieving and maintaining glycemic control in diagnosed diabetic patients. The present study was planned to assess the treatment adherence among diagnosed diabetic patients and find it’s association with socio-demographic variables and glycemic control Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among diagnosed type 2
Diabetic patients residing in urban and rural field practice area of Government Medical College, Amritsar. Data was collected for period of one year. Pre-tested, validated questionnaire Morisky Medication Adherence (MMAS) was used. Qualitative variables were compared using Chisquare test. P value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
Results: Overall, 41% and 42% of study participants had high adherence and low adherence to medication, respectively. Increasing age, male gender, was found to be significantly associated with high adherence. High adherence was significantly more in participants with controlled glycemic status. Educational and occupational status were found to be significantly associated with adherence. Place of residence and religion were not found to be associated with adherence status.
Conclusions: Overall, 41% of the study participants showed high adherence. Failure to remember to take medication (28%) and lack of knowledge (27%) were the main reasons for medium/low adherence. Therefore, health education and counselling sessions stressing the importance of medication adherence for achieving glycemic control needs to be regularly conducted to improve adherence.