Medication Adherence in Elderly Diabetic Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study From Dakshina Kannada, India

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has emerged as a major global healthcare problem. The risk of diabetes can be reduced by maintaining blood glycaemic levels, which can be achieved by stringent adherence to the treatment regime. Therefore, there is a continuing need to assess the level of adherence to medication/self-care activities and the factors that are related to non-adherence to medication and self-care. This would facilitate healthcare professionals to identify subjects with low medication adherence and thereby aid them in planning interventions to improve medication and self-care adherence. In this study, we aimed to estimate the proportion of medication adherence among diabetic patients above 60 years of age attending a tertiary care hospital in Southern India. We found that 72% of type 2 diabetes patients were adherent to the medications prescribed to them and there was a discernible effect of gender and literacy on medication adherence. However, more such regional studies need to be conducted with a larger sample size from diverse hospital setups to obtain a clear and unbiased picture of the drug adherence scenario in India.