Factors Affecting Medication Adherence among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Review

Abstract

Medication adherence plays a crucial role in the management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), especially to prevent complications and improve the quality of life of patients. However, the very low level of patient adherence harms the effectiveness of therapy and their overall health. This study purpose was to identify and analyse factors that influence medication adherence in T2DM patients. This study used the Systematic Literature Review method by reviewing relevant studies from journal platforms such as ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Garuda Portal and BMC Public Health. Inclusion criteria focused on age, gender, and education level. A detailed search in the selected databases found 17.817 articles. After careful screening, six articles were considered relevant for the review. The results of the study showed that age factors have a significant relationship with adherence, where older patients tend to have lower adherence due to the complexity of the treatment regimen and cognitive impairment. Gender factors also have an influence, with several studies showing that women have higher adherence levels than men. In addition, education plays an important role in improving patients' understanding of treatment, and patients with higher levels of education tend to be more adherent to undergoing medical therapy. In conclusion, these findings confirm that education-based interventions and approaches tailored to age groups and gender can improve patient adherence to T2DM treatment.