Ahmad Akram, Khan Muhammad Umair, Aslani Parisa
The University of Sydney School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Front Pharmacol. 2021 Sep 20;12:693748. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.693748. eCollection 2021.
Australia has a high proportion of migrants with an increasing migration rate from India. Type II diabetes is a long-term condition common amongst the Indian population. To investigate patients' medication-taking behaviour and factors that influence adherence at the three phases of adherence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 23 Indian migrants living in Sydney. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. The majority of participants were initially prescribed oral antidiabetic medicine and only two were started on insulin. Most started taking their medicine immediately while some delayed initiating therapy due to fear of side-effects. Most participants reported taking their medicine as prescribed. However, some reported forgetting their medicine especially when they were in a hurry for work or were out for social events. A few participants discontinued taking their medicine. Those who discontinued did so to try Ayurvedic medicine. Their trial continued for a few weeks to a few years. Those who did not receive expected results from the Ayurvedic medicine restarted their prescribed conventional medicine. A range of medication-taking behaviours were observed, ranging from delays in initiation to long-term discontinuation, and swapping of prescribed medicine with Ayurvedic medicine. This study highlights the need for tailored interventions, including education, that focus on factors that impact medication adherence from initiation to discontinuation of therapy.
澳大利亚有很大比例的移民，且来自印度的移民率不断上升。2型糖尿病是印度人群中常见的一种长期病症。为了调查患者在依从性的三个阶段的用药行为以及影响依从性的因素，对居住在悉尼的23名印度移民的便利样本进行了半结构化访谈。所有访谈都进行了录音，逐字转录并进行了主题分析。大多数参与者最初被开了口服抗糖尿病药物，只有两人开始使用胰岛素。大多数人立即开始服药，而有些人由于害怕副作用而推迟开始治疗。大多数参与者报告按规定服药。然而，一些人报告忘记服药，尤其是当他们急于上班或外出参加社交活动时。一些参与者停止服药。那些停药的人是为了尝试阿育吠陀医学。他们的尝试持续了几周至几年。那些没有从阿育吠陀医学中得到预期效果的人重新开始服用他们原来开的传统药物。观察到了一系列用药行为，从开始治疗的延迟到长期停药，以及用阿育吠陀药物替代处方药。这项研究强调了需要有针对性的干预措施，包括教育，关注从治疗开始到停药期间影响药物依从性的因素。
