OBJECTIVE: To find the level of non-compliance with treatment with oral hypoglycemics, its causes and the profile of non-compliant patients. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Primary Care Centres in the province of Alicante. PATIENTS: 107 diabetics not dependent on insulin on the lists of five General Medicine practices and all receiving pharmacological treatment. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The method used to value compliance was a surprise count of pills in the patient's home. Patients achieving 80-110% compliance were considered compliant. The level of non-compliance was 51.5% (C.I. 42.1%-61%), 36.5% being hypocompliers and 15% hypercompliers. Forgetting (40.7%) and lack of knowledge (29.5%) were the most frequent reasons for non-compliance. The factors associated with non-compliance were: over four years evolution of the disease (p = 0.02), the diet not properly observed (p = 0.03), over a year in regular treatment (p = 0.006), poor control of the disease valued by HbA1C (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: A high level of non-compliance with pharmacological treatment was found for patients with Diabetes Mellitus not dependent on insulin. Its causes were identified and factors associated with poor compliance were profiled.
OBJECTIVE: To find the level of non-compliance with treatment with oral hypoglycemics, its causes and the profile of non-compliant patients. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Primary Care Centres in the province of Alicante. PATIENTS: 107 diabetics not dependent on insulin on the lists of five General Medicine practices and all receiving pharmacological treatment. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The method used to value compliance was a surprise count of pills in the patient's home. Patients achieving 80-110% compliance were considered compliant. The level of non-compliance was 51.5% (C.I. 42.1%-61%), 36.5% being hypocompliers and 15% hypercompliers. Forgetting (40.7%) and lack of knowledge (29.5%) were the most frequent reasons for non-compliance. The factors associated with non-compliance were: over four years evolution of the disease (p = 0.02), the diet not properly observed (p = 0.03), over a year in regular treatment (p = 0.006), poor control of the disease valued by HbA1C (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: A high level of non-compliance with pharmacological treatment was found for patients with Diabetes Mellitus not dependent on insulin. Its causes were identified and factors associated with poor compliance were profiled.
Authors: Carmen Valdés Y Llorca; Ernesto Cortés Castell; José Manuel Ribera Casado; Pilar de Lucas Ramos; José Luis Casteig Ayestarán; Amaia Casteig Blanco; Vicente Francisco Gil Guillén; Mercedes Rizo Baeza Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-04-19 Impact factor: 3.390