Non-Adherence to Oral Diabetes Medication: Investigating the Role of Socioeconomic Factors and their Influence on Treatment Compliance

Abstract

Objective: To investigate association between socioeconomic factors and non-adherence to oral diabetes
medication among adult patients with diabetes.
Material and Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional analytical study conducted from January
to July 2023 in outpatient department of Bahawal Victoria hospital Bahawalpur. Sample size calculated at
anticipated population proportion of 54.4%, level confidence 95% and margin of error 5% was 375. Ethical
approval was taken from institutional ethical review committee. Non-probability consecutive sampling
method was used to recruit participants. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was
analyzed by SPSS version 22.0. Medication adherence was measured using Morisky 8-Item Medication
Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Self-reported reasons for non-adherence were noted. Chi square test was used
to see any statistically significant difference between groups and p-value <0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Mean age of patients was 55±12.37 years. Majority of study subjects 33.9% were between 51-60
years, 56.3% were male, 68.5% participants were currently married, 33.6% patients were doing private job
and 48.0% participants had monthly family income of ≤50,000. Family history of diabetes mellitus was
positive in 67.7% patients. Age of patients was significantly associated with adherence to anti-diabetic
medications (p=0.007). Family history of diabetes mellitus was also significantly associated with adherence
to anti-diabetic medications (p<0.001). Most frequent reason for skipping medicine was away from home in
41.6% patients.
Conclusion: Study revealed high frequency of non-compliance with diabetic treatment and counseling about
significance of adhering to prescribed treatments is necessary