Diabetes mellitus is a growing cause of disease burden worldwide. In order to maintain the glycemic control, multifaceted management and pharmacotherapy are playing vital role. Data related to medication adherence among the affected patients are not much recorded in developing countries like India. In this study, the level of adherence and factor influencing non-adherence to diabetic medication among patients with type II diabetes was assessed. This is a hospital based cross sectional study among adult patients receiving diabetic care. The medication adherence was assessed using the Medication compliance questionnaire. Factors associated with non-adherence to medication were determined using basic and adjusted multivariable logistic regression models. A total of 101 patients with type II diabetes were recruited for this study. Most of the patients told that they practiced both aerobic exercises and diet along with their medication for diabetic management. Nearly 90% of the patients adherent to diet and maximum of 73% patients took oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) alone followed both combination of OHA and insulin. Out of 101 patients, 67 had co-morbid psychiatric illness including mood disorders, neurotic stress and somatoform disorder. Adherence to treatment with diabetic is moderate in this study with more than half of participants being non-adherent. Urgent interventions are required to tackle this problem in combined efforts to stem this looming diabetes epidemic.
Keywords: Diabetes mellitus, life style modifications, treatment adherence