Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic illness that causes excessive blood sugar levels as a result
of either impaired pancreatic insulin production, insulin resistance, or both. People with
diabetes mellitus die prematurely, and DM is a global burden. Adherence to drug regimens is
essential in the management of diabetes mellitus, in addition to lifestyle changes. However,
patients with diabetes are more likely not to take their medications as prescribed, and poor
medication compliance jeopardizes patient safety and treatment efficacy, increasing mortality
and morbidity. This study aimed to determine oral diabetes medication adherence and its
associated factors among type two diabetes patients (T2DM) at Jinja Regional Referral Hospital.
An institutional-based cross-sectional study of 136 T2DM patients was undertaken at Jinja
Regional Referral Hospital in Jinja district. A convenience sampling technique was used to
recruit participants, and the research was carried out from April 2022 to October 2022. The
Morisky Medication Adherence Scale was used to assess medication adherence. STATA version
15.1 was used to analyze the data. To discover independent determinants of T2DM adherence,
logistic regressions were used. To declare statistical significance, a P-value of less than 0.05
was employed. This study enrolled 136 type 2 diabetes patients, with a response rate of 100%.
Overall, 58.33% of T2DM patients showed good medication adherence. T2DM patients who took
both oral and injectable anti-diabetic medications (AOR = 1.98, 95% CI: 1.16-3.39), received the
prescribed anti-diabetic medication from the hospital (AOR = 0.51, 95% CI: 0.32-0.80), had their
own glucometer at home (AOR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.16-0.54), and had good diabetes-related
knowledge were found to be more adherent to oral antidiabetic medication. At Jinja Regional
Referral Hospital, there is a low prevalence of oral anti-diabetic drug adherence among patients
with T2DM. Significant independent predictors of anti-diabetic treatment adherence included
the type of medication that T2DM patients were taking, the ability of patients to receive their
prescriptions from the hospital, having a glucometer at home for glucose monitoring, and
having sound knowledge of diabetes. Patients should therefore receive more education on the importance of medication adherence, and as well be encouraged to purchase personal
glucometers.