Diabetes-related Knowledge, Medication Adherence, and Health-related Quality of Life: A Correlation Analysis

Context . Even though positive treatment outcomes for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are linked to disease knowledge and adherence to medications, inadequate knowledge, poor adherence, and resistance to lifestyle modifications are still common among patients. This situation has been a continuing dilemma for patients and healthcare providers, and these factors negatively affect the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients. Objective . The current study intended to evaluate the correlations between diabetes-related knowledge, medication adherence, and HRQoL among T2DM patients in Pakistan. Design . The study was designed as a questionnairebased, cross-sectional descriptive analysis, with participants being selected using a prevalence-based sampling method. Setting . The study was conducted at four different healthcare institutes namely Sandeman Provincial Hospital, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital, Al-Khair Hospital and Sajid Hospital, Quetta city, Pakistan. Participants . Participants were 300 patients with T2DM who were receiving treatment at public and private healthcare institutes in Quetta, Pakistan. Outcome Measures . In addition to collection of demographics, the Urdu version of Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (MDKT-U), the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10), and the EuroQol EQ-5D were used to assess diabetes-related knowledge, medication adherence and HRQoL, respectively. The relationships among the 3 variables were determined using the Spearmen rho correlation coefficient, and the results were interpreted using Cohen' criteria. SPSS v.20 was used for data analysis, and P <.05 was considered significant for all analysis. Results . The mean diabetes-related knowledge score was 5.83 +/- 1.92, indicating participants' lack of knowledge of T2DM. Moderate adherence was reported, with a mean adherence score of 4.94 +/- 2.72. Additionally, the mean EQ-5D score was 0.48 +/- 0.36, and the mean Visual Analogue Score (VAS) was 54.58 +/- 20.28, highlighting poor HRQoL. The Spearman's rho correlation coefficient indicated significant, moderate correlations among all variables (P <.05; r = 0.053-0.231). Conclusions . The study found limited diabetes-related knowledge, moderate medication adherence, and poor HRQoL among patients with T2DM in Pakistan. Nevertheless, a positive significant correlation revealed that a directly proportional change in one study variable can improve the others.