Background: Treatment non-adherence is a common and important problem in diabetes care that negatively impacts treatment outcomes. Therefore, we should exert efforts to understand the magnitude of the problem and begin solving it.
Objectives: To determine how medication adherence differs between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and to clarify factors that contribute to medication adherence in this population, and how it affects microvascular complications.
Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted on 570 diabetic patients using a structured questionnaire for face-to-face interview at endocrinology outpatient clinics and inpatient wards at Menoufia university hospitals in the period between December 2021 and December 2023. Full history, examination and biochemical profile were obtained and state of medication adherence was assessed using Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS).
Results: the prevalence of non-medication adherence in the study was 62.8%. educational level, family income, duration of Diabetes, use of insulin were identified as risk factors for poor medications adherence (p value <0.001). However, age, gender, presence of other comorbidities wasn't significant among studied patients (p value 0.638 ,0.136 and 0.520 respectively).
Conclusion: Low income, low educational level, long duration of diabetes and use of insulin contribute to the high prevalence of medication non-adherence among diabetic patients, which in turn is responsible for the severity of microvascular complications.