Comparative analysis of determinants of medication adherence in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients across a secondary and a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Poor adherence to diabetes mellitus treatment leads to inadequate glycemic control, increased healthcare costs, and higher mortality rates. This study compared the determinants of medication adherence among type-2 diabetic patients at General Hospital, Odan (GH) and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi Araba (LUTH). A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted using convenience sampling. Respondents from both hospitals completed a structured, validated questionnaire. The Chi-square test was used to assess differences, with significance set at 0.05. No significant difference in mean age was found between respondents from both hospitals. However, knowledge of diabetes mellitus was higher in LUTH (82.0%) than in GH (62.7%), and knowledge of antidiabetic medications was also higher in LUTH (89.0%) compared to GH (73.6%). Despite this, GH had a higher medication adherence rate (64.5%) than LUTH (53.2%). Factors influencing adherence in GH included age (p = 0.030), marital status (p = 0.006), and religion (p = 0.036), whereas in LUTH, only religion (p = 0.041) was significant. While knowledge of diabetes mellitus and medication was higher in LUTH, adherence to antidiabetic medications was greater in GH. These findings suggest the need for improved patient education and stricter adherence to treatment prescriptions to enhance medication adherence across both hospitals.