Medication adherence and associated factors among individuals with non-communicable diseases registered for care in primary health centers of Villupuram district, South India
Keywords:
Diabetes, Hypertension, Adherence, Non adherence, Primary health care, medication.Abstract
Introduction: Early detection and compliance to prescribed treatment is the cornerstone to avert life threatening complications among those with non-communicable diseases (NCD). Medication adherence is a critical determinant for ideal control status in Non communicable diseases. Assessing adherence to medication and its correlates can help in devising effective strategies to improve medication adherence. Objectives: To assess adherence to prescribed medications and associated factors among diabetic and/or hypertensive patients registered in NCD clinic of selected PHCs of Tamil Nadu, South India. Methodology: A facility based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in six conveniently selected PHCs of Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. The individuals with hypertension and/or diabetes, registered and received NCD drugs for more than four weeks were included. All eligible individuals attending the clinic during study period were included. The medication adherence was assessed using MMAS-8 questionnaire. The data was entered in EpiData software V 3.1 and analyzed using Stata version 11.0. Results: Of the 1406 participants, the mean (SD) age was 56.3 (±11.4) years; 831 (59.1%) were females. Only diabetes was found in 340 (24.2%), 806 (57.3%) had only hypertension and 260 (18.5%) had both diabetes and hypertension. Low adherence to medication was seen in 203 (14.3%, 95% CI (9.8%, 19.9%) of the study participants. Having only hypertension (PR-1.5, 95%CI-1.1–2.1)), consuming more than two class of drugs (Prevalence ratio PR-1.7, CI-1.1–2.4) and more than four (PR-2.8, CI-2.3-3.6) were independently associated with low adherence. Conclusion: Around one out of six individuals registered in NCD clinics of PHC had low adherence to prescribed medication. Those having higher number of concomitant drugs to consume were more likely to have low adherence.
