MEDICATION ADHERENCE IN DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE 2 AND ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION PATIENTS: AGE AND GENDER RELATED ASPECTS

The aim of this study was to determine medication adherence in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the presence or absence of concomitant hypertension.The study involved 102 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus receiving outpatient medical care, including 52 participants with concomitant hypertension and 50 people with normal blood pressure. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) was used to determine the medication adherence of the participants.When assessing the medication adherence between study groups, significant differences were found in patients with comorbidity and without hypertension (p = 0,019). In general, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension have a low level of compliance, while the vast majority of patients with diabetes without comorbidity have a high level of compliance.When analysing the difference of levels of compliance in middle-aged and elderly people between the groups without high blood pressure or with hypertension, a significant difference was noted in elderly patients (p = 0,005), while the difference was not significant among middle-aged participants. Assessment of the medication adherence in male patients with or without concomitant hypertension showed significant differences between study groups (p = 0,025). In general, male participants with diabetes mellitus and hypertension have lower adherence rates than patients with diabetes without concomitant pathology. An assessment of medication adherence levels in female patients between the study groups revealed insignificant differences. Participants with both comorbidities and diabetes and normal blood pressure equally had high and medium levels of compliance, with a slight prevalence of low levels in females with comorbidity.