Diabetes mellitus drug adherence and associated factors at selected health centers of Arada sub city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease where the medication regimen contains many aspects that make compliance difficult. Poor adherence is an obstacle in therapeutic control of diabetes. Despite the advances in the treatment of diabetes mellitus over the years, diabetes places an immense burden on the individuals living with the condition, their families and the overall health care system.

Objective: To assess level of diabetic mellitus drug adherence and associated factors at selected health centers of Arada sub city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Methods: A community based cross sectional study was conducted from March to august/2018. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select 405 samples. Data collection tools were structured questionnaires for identifying the factors associated with drug adherence and Morisky adherence skill to know the extent of adherence among diabetic patients. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.00 statistical software. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify independent variables. Factors with p<0.05 were taken as statistically significant.

Results: The study was conducted with 100% respondent rate. The mean age of the respondents were 37 years (SD ± 6.17 years). Two hundred twenty-two (54.8%) participants were living for 1-5 years with diabetes mellitus. About 70(17.3%) of clients used insulin syringe for self-injection. Two hundred ninety-six (73.1%) participants took oral hypoglycemic agents once a day and 38 (9.4%) twice a day.  Age 44-56 years (AOR=1.325, 95% CI (1.169-1.625), age>56 years ( 3.573(2.364-5.903), level of education who attended primary school (AOR =1.146, 95%CI (1.125-4.092), secondary education (AOR=2.134, 95%CI (1.1-4.092), college  diploma and above (AOR=7.590,95%CI(4.156-13.975), income >1000 (AOR=1.436(1.784-2.436), high cost of drugs (AOR=.079, 95%CI (.048-0.130) were identified significant variables.

Conclusion: The overall adherence towards antidiabetic medications in this study was low. Educational status, monthly income and cost of medicine were significantly associated with antidiabetic medication adherence. A lot should be done to maximize the medication adherence of diabetic patients so as to obtain full therapeutic benefits of prescribed therapies.