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Compliance in black patients with non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus receiving oral hypoglycaemic therapy


H. L. Venter
P. H. Joubert
G. N. Foukaridis

Abstract

Poor compliance with drug therapy is an important cause of therapeutic failure. Sixty-eight black patients with non-insulin- dependent diabetes mellitus receiving oral hypoglycaemic agents were interviewed and various factors, such as age, sex, degree of control and type of therapy, were recorded by means of a questionnaire. Compliance was determined by qualitatively assessing urine for the presence of the drugs. An alarmingly high incidence of non-compliance of 65% was found, which could still be an under-estimation because of the long half-life of one of the drugs involved - chlorpropamide. Although interesting trends were noted, no statistically significant differences between compliant and non-compliant patients were found. In the light of the high incidence of non-compliance, a larger and more detailed study seems to be warranted to identify problem areas and to plan appropriate interventions.


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eISSN: 2078-5135
print ISSN: 0256-9574