The relationship between illness perception and medication adherence in patients with diabetes mellitus type II: illness perception and medication adherence

INTRODUCTION: One of the most well-known chronic diseases in the world is diabetes. Disease perception is the patient’s organized cognitive representation of his or her illness and can affect treatment adherence. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between illness perception and adherence to the medical regimen in patients with type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed among 260 patients with type II diabetes referred to Gonabad Diabetes Clinic by systematic random sampling in 2019. Data collection tools were demographic questionnaire, Morisky medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8), and Brief illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ). Data were analyzed by SPSS 20 software. And using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The results showed that the mean score of illness perception of type II diabetes was 46.39 ± 9.45 (range 0-70) and the mean score of medication Adherence was 2.93 ± 1.9 (range 0-8). The results of Pearson correlation test showed a significant relationship between illness perception and medication Adherence (P < 0.001, r = 0.199). Also, the regression model showed that the dimensions of disease comprehension and personal control from illness perception were significantly related to medication Adherence of type II diabetic patients (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study on the relationship between illness perception and medical adherence in diabetic patients, it is suggested that in order to understand the increase in adherence to therapy, the perception of the disease should be increased through education to patients. Patients’ illness beliefs are candidates for a psycho-educational intervention that should be targeted at improved disease management practices and better adherence to recommended healthy behaviors.