A literature review on treatment adherence of diabetes mellitus patients and the impact of sociodemographic and patient-related factors

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Paraskevi Theofilou

General Hospital of Thoracic Diseases Sotiria, Greece Hellenic Open University, Greece

: Endocrinol Diabetes Res

Abstract

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The importance of adherence to treatment is very important. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the adherence of patients with diabetes mellitus to their treatment. For this purpose, a systematic review was performed, where relevant studies were searched in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases with specific keywords, and then the most appropriate studies (based on specific inclusion/exclusion criteria) were selected and analyzed. In total, from the literature search, 16 studies were identified. Based on these studies, patients with diabetes mellitus show fairly low adherence to insulin therapy. Perceptions of diabetes disease, availability of medication, diabetes education provided, perceptions of medication, employment of current patients, younger age, education level, ethnicity, HbA1c levels, abstinence from alcohol, the presence of peripheral vascular disease, income, keeping their appointments in primary health care and religious beliefs about treatment and healing practices are important factors that influence the adherence of patients with diabetes to their treatment. Compliance of patients with diabetes mellitus to treatment is an extremely important issue for them since its lack negatively affects not only the health of patients but also their quality of life. Recent Publications 1. Jaam M, et al. Assessing prevalence of and barriers to medication adherence in patients with uncontrolled diabetes attending primary healthcare clinics in Qatar. Prim Care Diab. 2018;12(2):116–25. 2. Chellappan DK, Yap WS, Bt Ahmad Suhaimi NA, Gupta G, Dua K. Current therapies and targets for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Panminerva Medica. 2018;60(3):117–31. 3. Kleinberger JW, Pollin TI. Personalized medicine in diabetes mellitus: Current opportunities and future prospects. Ann New York Acad Sci. 2015;1346(1):45–56. 4. Kane SV, Robinson A. Review article: Understanding adherence to medication in ulcerative colitis – innovative thinking and evolving concepts. Aliment Pharmacol Therap. 2010;32(9):1051–8. 5. Brunton SA, Polonsky WH. Hot topics in primary care: Medication adherence in type 2 diabetes mellitus: real – world strategies for addressing a common problem. J Fam Prac. 2017;66(4):S46–51. 6. Dunbar-Jacob J, Mortimer-Stephens MK. Treatment adherence in chronic disease. J Clin Epidemiol. 2001;54(Suppl 1):S57–60.

Biography

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Paraskevi Theofilou Ph.D. in Health Psychology (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Department of Psychology, Athens, Greece) Ph.D. in Personnel Management (University of Peloponnese, Department of Nursing, Tripoli, Greece) M.Sc. Health Services Management (Frederick University, School of Health Sciences and School of Law and Business Administration, Cyprus) M.Sc. Social exclusion, minorities and gender (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Department of Sociology, Athens, Greece) Social Administration - Management of Health Services (National School of Public Administration, Athens, Greece) B.Sc. in Psychology (Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Department of Psychology, Athens, Greece) B.Sc. in Social Work (Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Athens, Greece).