Association between medication adherence and health-related quality of life among type 2 diabetic adults in Mexico

Abstract

Purpose Previous evidence suggests that non-adherence to medication among patients with chronic diseases might negatively affect their health-related quality of life (HRQoL); however, the evidence in adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) is not conclusive, and information is scarce in the Mexican context. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the association between medication adherence and HRQoL among Mexican adults with T2D. Methods A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on a sample of 320 adults with T2D. Participants were recruited from two community health centers in Hidalgo, Mexico. The four-item Morisky Green Levine Medication Adherence Scale and the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) were used to assess medication adherence and HRQoL, respectively. The associations between the variables of interest were evaluated using logistic regression models. Results It was found that 78.4% of the participants were non-adherent to medication. After adjusting for confounders, we observed that non-adherent adults were more likely to have poor HRQoL in six domains of SF-36: physical functioning (adjusted odds ratio [ORa] =2.02; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] =1.06, 3.80); physical role (ORa = 2.37; 95% CI = 1.13, 4.96); bodily pain (ORa = 2.71; 95% CI = 1.45, 5.06); general health (ORa = 2.57; 95% CI = 1.37, 4.80); vitality (ORa = 3.30; 95% CI = 1.70, 6.39); social functioning (ORa = 2.97; 95% CI = 1.56, 5.65); and mental health (ORa = 2.66; 95% CI = 1.42, 4.98). Conclusion Non-adherence to medication was independently associated with HRQoL in Mexican adults with T2D. Therefore, it is necessary to plan awareness interventions to encourage adherence to therapeutic recommendations during routine clinical consultations in primary care.

Keywords

• diabetes mellitus
• medication adherence
• mexico
• quality of life
• type 2 diabetes mellitus