A Community-Based Study on Diabetes Medication Nonadherence and its Risk Factors in Rural Tamil Nadu.

CONTEXT

Medication nonadherence is common among diabetics and it is one of the leading public health challenges.

AIMS

The aims of this study were to find the prevalence of nonadherence to diabetic medication and to identify various factors associated with it.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

This study was conducted in 34 villages of the field practicing areas of rural health training center. This was a mixed method study design.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

It was conducted among 328 type 2 diabetic patients. The quantitative data were collected from diabetic patients and qualitative data from health-care providers to identify their perceived barriers for patient's nonadherence.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

Collected data were entered in Epi Info (3.5.3) and analyzed using SPSS version 24 software.

RESULTS

The prevalence of low adherence to diabetic medication was 45.4% among the study population. Bivariate analysis shows significant association with the patients who are literate (odds ratio [OR] = 0.6, confidence interval [CI] = 0.38-0.95), hypertensive (OR = 1.6, CI = 1.04-2.5), taking treatment from private facility (OR = 0.54, CI = 0.34-0.87), perceived lack of satisfaction with doctor-patient relationship (OR = 3.3, CI = 1.3-8.3), and perceived lack of knowledge about diabetes (OR = 2.03, CI = 1.29-3.1) with low adherence to medication.

CONCLUSIONS

The prevalence of nonadherence to medications is common among diabetics in rural areas, and there is a need to strengthen the primary health-care system in addressing barriers to achieve better health outcomes.