Adherence of Type 2 Diabetic Patients to Antidiabetic Medications and its Associated Factors in Najran Armed Forces Hospital, Saudi Arabia

Background: Adherence to antidiabetic medications is crucial for optimum glycemic control and decreasing complications. This study aimed to assess adherence to antidiabetic medications and the associated factors among individuals with type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) attending chronic illness clinics at Najran Armed Forces Hospital (NAFH), Najran Region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A systematic sampling technique was used. Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) scores were used for labeling patients as adherent or non-adherent. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. To see the association of variables logistic regression with OR and 95% CI was done. Results: A total of 288 study participants were interviewed with a response rate of 100%. The level of adherence was found to be 85%. Factors found to be significantly associated with antidiabetic medication adherence were level of education (AOR = 14.27, 95% CI = 3.0, 67.82), duration of diabetes (AOR = 6.10, 95% CI = 2.03, 18.34), and knowledge about DM and its medications (AOR = 28.05, 95% CI = 8.96, 87.8). Conclusions and Recommendations: Our study, a family medicine-based cross-sectional study, found high medication adherence by patients with T2DM regarding their prescribed diabetes medication. Low adherence was significantly associated with educational status, duration of diabetes, and knowledge. We recommend improving T2DM patients’ knowledge related to diabetes and note the importance of compliance with the medication regimen through several health education sessions at diabetic educators, coaches, and other healthcare facilities. These sessions can be delivered by physicians and other healthcare providers, namely, nurses and community pharmacists. Keywords: Type 2 diabetes, adherence to medications, Najran Armed Forces Hospital, Najran Region.