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Medication adherence and direct treatment cost among diabetes patients attending a tertiary healthcare facility in Ogbomosho, Nigeria
Fadare, J.; Olamoyegun, M. & Gbadegesin, B.A.
Abstract
Background
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is now prevalent in many countries in sub-
Saharan Africa, with associated health and socioeconomic consequences.
Adherence to antidiabetic medications has been shown to improve
glycaemic control, which subsequently improves both the short- and longterm
prognosis of the disease. The main objective of this study was to
assess the level of adherence to antidiabetic drugs among outpatients in a
teaching hospital in southwestern Nigeria.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was carried out using the eight-item Morisky
Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) among diabetic patients attending
the medical outpatients’ diabetes clinic of Ladoke Akintola University
Teaching Hospital, in Ogbomosho, Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria,
during a three-month period (October to December 2013).
Results
A total of 129 patients participated in the study with a male-to-female ratio
of 1:1.5. Seventy-eight (60.5%) patients had systemic hypertension as a
comorbid condition while the remaining were being managed for diabetes
mellitus alone. Only 6 (4.7%) of the patients had type 1 DM while the
remaining 123 (95.3%) were diagnosed with type 2 DM. Metformin was
the most prescribed oral hypoglycaemic agent (n = 111, 58.7%) followed
by glibenclamide (n = 49, 25.9%). Medication adherence was classified
as good, medium, and poor for 52 (40.6%), 42 (32.8%), and 34 (26.6%)
patients, respectively.
Medication costs accounted for 72.3% of the total direct cost of DM in
this study, followed by the cost of laboratory investigations (17.6%).
Conclusion
Adherence of diabetes patients in the study sample to their medications
was satisfactory. There is a need for the integration of generic medicines
into routine care as a way of further reducing the burden of healthcare
expenditure on the patients.
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