Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness that represents a global issue and requires continuous therapy to manage the disease effectively. Adherence to diabetes medication is necessary to maintain the blood glucose level and avoid the consequence of hyperglycemia. Adherence among patients is low, and this low level of adherence is associated with several factors. The present study was aimed at investigating the patients’ factors affecting adherence to diabetic medication.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study enrolled diabetic patients using an online questionnaire from August to October 2020. The questionnaire assessed the socio-demographic, clinical characteristics, health literacy, and medication adherence of the patients.
Results: Two hundred fifty diabetic patients participated in this study; the mean ± SD of patients was 50 ± 8.1 years old. 39.2% reported four times medication per day; the most common oral and injected medications were alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (35.2%) and glucagon-like peptide1-receptor agonists (33.65), respectively. There were 68% subjects who had inadequate health literacy, and 64.4% had low adherence to diabetes medication.
Conclusion: There were low health literacy and low adherence to diabetes medication among diabetic patients; improvement of patients’ health literacy is necessary to increase their medication adherence.

Key words: Diabetes, medication adherence, health literacy, family medicine