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Family support increased type 2 diabetes medication adherence
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Patients with type 2 diabetes may improve their medication adherence through family support, according to recent study findings published in the Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders.
“It is suggested to study a naturally occurring social construct such as family support in patients with higher medication adherence and lower cognitive disorders to better understand these conditions and apply it in artificially induced situations,” the researchers wrote.
The researchers evaluated 91 patients from a diabetes clinic who were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=45) or control (n=46) group to determine the impact of family support on medication adherence and cognition among patients with type 2 diabetes. The intervention consisted of educational support for key family members of the participants in the group.
The intervention group rate of reporting that the participant had cut back on or discontinued medication without informing a physician decreased from 46.7% before intervention to 2.2% after intervention vs. 39.1% of the control group in the initial interview and 26.1% 3 months later. The intervention group also was less likely to report forgetting to take medicine, decreasing from 91.1% before the intervention to 22.2% after educational support vs. increasing from 73.9% to 80.4% among the control group.
“The results revealed family support helps to improve medication adherence and cognitive status in patients with type 2 diabetes,” the researchers wrote. “Cognitive decline due to the presence of a risk factor of type 2 diabetes may occur as a result of hyperglycemia. Family support may enhance medication adherence, which results in glycemic control and cognitive improvement as an indirect effect of family support. The results can help health care providers while counseling family members of people with type 2 diabetes. They can inform the family members about their effective roles and also teach them some techniques for improving their supporting behaviors.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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