ASSESSMENT OF THERAPEUTIC NON - COMPLIANCE AMONG TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS

Jincy Kurian*, Dr. Rijas K. M., Dr. Mahin O. S.

ABSTRACT

Therapeutic Non - Compliance can be defined as the failure of a patient to correctly adhere to their prescribed healthcare plan. This includes missing medication doses, treatment schedules alteration or failing to follow recommended lifestyle changes. Therapeutic Non – Compliance can often lead to disease progression, frequent hospitalizations and increased healthcare cost of the patient. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common metabolic disorder and is a major health problem of public. The role of Health Care Professionals (HCP) in educating the Diabetic patients regarding the disease management and medication adherence is very important. Medication Adherence of Diabetic patients can be improved by observing the patterns and factors influencing non adherence. This study aimed to assess the therapeutic non – compliance of Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus patients and to determine the predictors of non – compliance in Diabetic Patients. 500 Diabetic patients who were treated at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of South Kerala were included in the study. Adherence levels were 28 %, 40 %, and 32 % for high, medium and poor adherence respectively. Results of this study showed that, the patients at the study site were moderately adherent to Anti-diabetic medications. This highlight the need for constant motivation and education at frequent intervals to ensure better adherence. The study could conclude that, the factors Age, Comorbid condition, knowledge about disease and medications, financial problem and number of drugs prescribed were statistically significant individually to therapeutic non – compliance.

Keywords: Therapeutic Non – Compliance, Health Care Professionals, Type 2 Diabetic Mellitus, Medication Adherence, Anti – diabetic medications.