Beliefs about medicine among sample of Iraqi Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Karbala. Iraq: Across sectional study

Abstract

Back ground: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the fastest-growing diseases in the world, it is a big threat to global health. The number of people with diabetes mellitus is rising quickly at alarming rate, it has been called an epidemic disease of the 21st century, affecting millions of people all over the world. Achieving ideal glycemic control can lower DM-related morbidity and mortality , As a result, adherence to medication is a critical factor in determining the efficacy of diabetes therapy. Medication adherence is influenced by the patient's medication beliefs, particularly the Patient's concern about drugs, which obstructs adherence to treatment. Therefore, especially in diabetic patients, it is significant to consider the Patient's medication beliefs . For that reason, this study aimed to investigate and evaluate beliefs about medications in patients with T2DM and assess the probable relation between this belief and glycemic control and some patient-particular factors.

Subjects and Methods: The present study is cross sectional study included 200 Iraqi patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who visited the Endocrinology Center/Al-Huja Hospital in Karbala between November 2020 and December 2021. Belief about medeciations was measured using the Arabic version of the BMQ Questionnaire.

Results: The mean age of the patients was (51.46±9.05) years. The patients had a stronger agreement with the mean necessity scale (18.07) approximately the same as the mean total score for BMQ mean concern scale (17.79). About half of patients (45%) have great opinion for needing to anti-diabetic therapies to maintain the glucose level normal, but with great worry concerned (38.5%) to side effects of these medications. And 16.5% of patients had specific-necessity score equal to specific-concern. Conclusions: These findings lead to conclude That patient's belief about medicine was found to be poor predictor of good glycemic control.Nearly half of study individuals were appeared having a high believe for needing to anti-diabetic therapy to control the disease despite the presence of a significant concern regarding the long-term effects of drug use.