Association between patients’ beliefs and oral antidiabetic medication adherence in a Chinese type 2 diabetic population

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents

Characteristics	Categories	n	Frequency (%)
Sex	Female	66	50.8
	Male	64	49.2
Age, years	Mean	60.6
	<50	25	19.2
	50–59	27	20.8
	60–69	48	36.9
	≥70	30	23.1
Educational level	No formal education	22	16.9
	Primary school	17	13.1
	Senior secondary	70	53.8
	College and above	21	16.2
Marital status	Married	116	89.2
	Widowed	14	10.8
Monthly income (¥)	>2,000	109	83.8
	1,000–2,000	8	6.2
	500–1,000	6	4.6
	<500	7	5.4
Health insurance	Yes	121	93.1
	No	9	6.9
Number of medications	1	51	39.2
	2	55	42.3
	≥3	24	18.5
Frequency of medication	Once a day	23	17.7
	Twice a day	39	30.0
	Three times a day	67	51.5
	Four times a day	1	0.8
Duration of diabetes	<5 years	23	17.7
	5–10 years	52	40.0
	≥10 years	55	42.3
Medication adherence	Poor	71	54.6
	Optimal	59	45.4

Note: Medication adherence was measured by MMAS-8.

Table 2 Correlations between each of the items with elicited beliefs to take medication and medication adherence (n=130)

Variable	n	Medication adherence P (r)#
		Poor	Optimal	Total
Behavioral beliefs (advantages)
It would help me to stay well	39	0.137 (−0.185)	0.419 (0.103)	0.554 (−0.052)
It would reduce my chances of developing complications from diabetes	34	0.459 (−0.093)	0.760 (−0.039)	0.446 (−0.067)
It would keep my blood sugar under control	98	0.766 (0.037)	0.739 (0.042)	0.547 (−0.053)
It would keep my diabetes under control	61	0.872 (0.020)	0.570 (0.072)	0.626 (0.043)
It would help me avoid injecting insulin	17	0.417 (0.102)	0.672 (−0.054)	0.782 (0.024)
It would cause me unpleasant side effects (eg, hepatic or renal injury and weight gain)	72	0.456 (−0.093)	0.335 (−0.123)	0.227 (−0.107)
Normative beliefs (expectations of others)
My doctor or nurse would approve that I am taking my diabetes medicines regularly	6	0.893 (−0.017)	0.511 (−0.084)	0.590 (−0.048)
Members of my family or close relatives would approve that I am taking my diabetes medicines regularly	42	0.564 (0.072)	0.934 (−0.011)	0.657 (−0.039)
My wife/husband/partner would approve that I am taking my diabetes medicines regularly	95	0.039 (0.255)	0.774 (0.037)	0.115 (0.139)
Control beliefs
Facilitating factors
Having the OADs on hand	21	0.433 (−0.098)	0.020 (−0.289)	0.037 (−0.183)
Keep OADs in a fixed position at home	111	0.672 (−0.053)	0.395 (0.108)	0.821 (0.020)
Have a routine	4	0.202 (0.159)	0.761 (0.039)	0.274 (0.097)
Have somebody to remind me	4	0.508 (0.083)	0.773 (0.037)	0.461 (0.065)
Use a pill dispenser	16	0.557 (−0.074)	0.558 (0.075)	0.974 (−0.003)
Barriers
Being away from home or eating out	39	0.006 (−0.332)	0.045 (−0.251)	0.000 (−0.321)
Not accepting the disease	9	0.017 (−0.294)	0.000 (−0.503)	0.000 (−0.405)
Ignorance of life-long drug adherence	6	0.004 (−0.350)	0.711 (−0.047)	0.038 (−0.183)
When friends or relatives visit	5	0.048 (−0.244)	0.764 (−0.038)	0.583 (−0.170)
When busy	30	0.180 (−0.167)	0.000 (−0.444)	0.001 (−0.300)
Poor memory	24	0.007 (−0.330)	0.133 (−0.190)	0.008 (−0.230)

Notes: Medication adherence was measured by MMAS-8.

# Spearman’s rank correlation analysis.

Abbreviation: OADs, oral antidiabetic drugs.

Table 3 Logistic regression analysis between different variables and medication adherence

Variable	P-value	Odds ratio	95% CI
			Lower	Upper
TPB	0.011	0.935	0.888	0.985
Sex	0.711	1.173	0.504	2.732
Age	0.072	1.037	0.997	1.079
Marital status	0.389	1.368	0.671	2.791
Duration	0.704	0.986	0.918	1.059
Education	0.842	0.952	0.584	1.550
Monthly income	0.341	1.360	0.722	2.564
Insurance	0.263	0.640	0.293	1.398
Number of medications	0.784	0.927	0.541	1.589
Frequency of medication	0.268	1.359	0.790	2.339

Abbreviations: TPB, theory of planned behavior; CI, confidence interval.