Factors Affecting Compliance of Diabetic Patients toward Therapeutic Management
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- Category: Vol. 79, June 2011
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Factors Affecting Compliance of Diabetic Patients toward Therapeutic Management,NADIA M. TAHA, MAGDA ABD EL-AZEAZ and BAHIA G. ABD EL-RAZIK
Abstract
Background: The increasing prevalence of diabetes mel-litus, the emergence of diabetes complications as a cause of early morbidity and mortality, and the enormous and mounting burden on health care systems make diabetes a priority health concern. The main goals of diabetes care are good metabolic control, and minimization of complications. These are affected by patient compliance, which is the extent to which a person’s behavior coincides with medical or other health care regimen. The aim of this study was to assess factors affecting compliance of diabetic patients toward therapeutic management and providing guidelines for the patients to improve their compli-ance toward therapeutic management. Research questions: What are the factors affecting compliance of diabetic patients? What is the relationship between diabetic complications and patient compliance?
Subjects and Methods: A descriptive correlational design was used to conduct this study. The Subjects a sample of 80 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, (23 males and 57 females). The study was carried out at outpatient clinic in Zagazig University Hospital. Tools for data collection included a questionnaire interview sheet, to assess the factors affecting their compliance to treatment regimens of diabetic patients.
Results: The study results revealed that, most of diabetic patients had unsatisfactory knowledge scores about the disease and its treatment regimen. But despite of their poor knowledge, they had inadequate compliance scores. There were a highly statistical significant positive correlation between knowledge and compliance of the study sample.
Conclusion and Recommendations: The study concluded that most type-2 diabetic patients in the study setting have inadequate compliance and unsatisfactory knowledge regarding management of DM. Compliance is influenced by patients' income, disease characteristics, perceived barriers, as well as knowledge. The low compliance is reflected in high prevalence of obesity, DM complications, and high blood sugar levels. Therefore, patient compliance needs to be improved through patient teaching program especially targeting vulnerable diabetic patients and their families. Additionally, the barriers perceived by these patients need to be addressed, especially the costs of investigations, and the physical barriers related to diet and exercise. Further research is needed to develop and refine interventions to improve compliance of diabetic patients and to assess the effectiveness of removing perceived barriers on their compliance.