Introduction: Non adherence to medication is a common problem in clinical practice, especially among patients with asymptomatic chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. It is a result of complex interaction between the social environment, the patient and health providers. Non adherence to medication declines the efficacy of the medication and, in turn, the glycemic control.

Aim: Although poor medication adherence may contribute to inadequate diabetes control, ways to practicable measure adherence in clinical practice have yet to be established. This study was conducted to assess the medication adherence among type II diabetic patients.

Methods: A cross sectional, observational study was conducted for a period of 6 months in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus taking anti diabetic drugs were enrolled in this study. To assess the medication adherence, 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) was used.

Results: The medication adherence was assessed in 116 patients. 84 (72.41%) patients have low adherence and 32 (27.58%) patients have medium adherence and none of them has high adherence before the counselling session. After the counselling session on diabetes and adherence to medication did elicit a significant change in adherence levels, i.e.18 (15.51%) patients (of the patients) have reached high adherence, 77 (66.37%) patients (of the patients) have reached medium adherence and 21 (18.10%) patients (of the patients) have low adherence.

Conclusion: Improving medication adherence enhances patient safety. It is crucial for the health care professionals to assess the patient and foresee the possible causes of non adherence to achieve best health outcome.

Keywords: Medication adherence, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, Diabetes mellitus, Patient Counselling.

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B. Srijan

Department of Clinical Pharmacy

Vaageswari College of Pharmacy, Karimnagar, Telangana, India