Self-reported Adherence to Medication among Patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus attending a Tertiary Care Hospital of Delhi.

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is becoming a potential epidemic in India with more than 62 million diagnosed diabetics and an increase of nearly 2 million per year. Poor adherence to medication regimens increases the probability of adverse outcomes in type 2 diabetes patients. Therefore, improving medication adherence is a growing priority to control this epidemic. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the level of adherence to medication in Type II diabetic patients and to study the various factors affecting adherence to medication and the relationship between the severity of diabetes with the adherence categories. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at medicine outpatient department (OPD) of a tertiary care hospital, New Delhi among 200 type 2 diabetic patients for duration of 2 months using a predesigned and pretested semi-structured interview schedule and diabetes medication adherence was assessed by Morisky's medication adherence scale questionnaire. Results: Out of 200 participants, 32.5% were found to have high adherence while 34.5% and 33% had moderate and low adherence. Factors found to be associated with adherence were age, educational status, longer duration of disease and presence of glucometer. Almost four-fifths of the patients (79.5%) had poor plasma glucose control. Conclusion: There is a need to focus on improving adherence among type 2 diabetes patients and strengthening health care systems for regular supply of medicines and provide health education to the patients and their families emphasising the need of adherence to medications.