Abstract:
Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is a complex and common non communicable
disease which is associated with macro and micro vascular complications involving increased
morbidity and mortality among all age groups worldwide. The poor compliance of medication
leads to management failure and there are many factors which influence patient‟s compliance.
Numbers of patient related factors have been described in the literature in different
geographical, ethnic and regional populations.
Objectives: To identify the patient related factors associated with poor compliance of
antidiabetic medication among T2D patients attending the Endocrinology clinic, Teaching
Hospital Karapitiya.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among T2D patients attending
the Endocrinology clinic in Teaching Hospital Karapitiya. Data were collected using an
interviewer based questionnaire. Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) scores were
used to determine the compliance associated with antidiabetic medication.
Results: The cohort of 364 T2D patients were interviewed for the study of which majority was
females (65.9%). The level of poor compliance to medication was found in 79.9% of subjects.
Among study subjects, 80.2% were employed in public and private sectors, 141(38.7%) had
monthly income of less than Rs. 25,000 and 231 subjects (63.4%) were living in urban
environments. Among study sample, age, gender, ethnicity, religion and monthly income did not
associate with poor drug compliance while the civil state (p=0.010), educational level
(p=0.037), type of employment (p=0.0001) were significantly associated.
Conclusions: Majority of the patients had poor compliance level to anti-diabetic medication.
Therefore, the results of this study provided important evidence-based information to improve
knowledge regarding patient related factors for poor drug compliance among T2D patients.
