MEDICATION REGIMEN COMPLEXITY ASSESSMENT IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS AND ITS IMPACT ON MEDICATION ADHERENCE AND GLYCEMIC CONTROL: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL, SOUTH KERALA

Background and Aim: The prevalence of DM worldwide is estimated to be 415 million, which is anticipated to surpass 642 million in the next 25 years. Good glycaemic control reduces the incidence of complications associated with diabetes and thus improves microvascular diseases. Complexity can be regarded as the root cause of low adherence and thus result in interactions. This study aimed to evaluate the complexity of medication regimens in patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus and its impact on medication adherence and glycaemic control. Methodology: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 265 patients with diabetes in NIMS Medicity, Kerala, for 6 months, and the association between predictive and outcome variables was analyzed. Results: The final analysis included 265 diabetic patients who met the inclusion criteria. Around 66.03% of patients showed a high level of patient-specific MRCI, while 3% had high diabetes-specific MRCI. Almost 26.4% of patients showed high compliance with diabetic medications. Most patients included in the study (66%) showed poor glycemic control. The patients with severe patient-specific MRCI showed more non-adherence (p<0.001), while in the case of diabetic-specific MRCI, patients with low and moderate levels had high non-adherence. Also, those patients with diabetes duration greater than 10 years and those with co-morbidities showed more non-adherence, which was statistically significant. Patients with severe patient-specific MRCI (p<0.001) and increased age of above 61 years had poor glycemic control. There was no remarkable association of drug interaction with both diabetic as well as patient-specific MRCI.