Medication adherence in diabetes mellitus patients at Tanjung Karang Primary Health Care Center, Mataram

Background The prevalence of diabetes mellitus continues to increase every year, including in Indonesia. To prevent complications of diabetes mellitus, patients need to adhere to therapy. The aim of this study was to assess patient adherence to diabetes mellitus drug therapy at Tanjung Karang Primary Health Care Center, Mataram. Methods A total of 60 participants were recruited in April-May 2019. The inclusion criteria of respondents were patients who were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, treated at Tanjung Karang Primary Health Care Center for more than 1 month, and aged at least 18 years. Assessment of adherence to therapy was carried out using a validated questionnaire, which was the Adherence to Refill Medication Scale (ARMS) questionnaire. The scale used was the Likert scale (1-4) with a score range of 12-48. The higher the total score, the lower the compliance. Results The average age of the respondents was 54.97 years. The average ARMS score was 19.52 ± 5.688 with the lowest score of 12 and the highest score of 33. Among all respondents, only 8.3% had good adherence (total score of 12). Based on the subscales, the average score for refilling medicine and intentional nonadherence in taking medicine was 7.18 ± 2.383, the unintentional nonadherence in taking medicine was 8.13 ± 2.764, and the persistence in refilling medicine was 4.12 ± 1.738. Conclusions Patient medication adherence to the treatment of diabetes mellitus needs to be improved. An approach through healthcare professionals can be achieved so that the therapeutic outcome will be achieved.