Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The patients’ nonadherence to treatment is a universal problem and has several related factors. Knowing these factors can provide information for planning of health actions. The aim of this study was to relate the prevalence of nonadherence to treatment for diabetes with sex, age, years of education, duration of diabetes and metabolic control.

Description of methods/design: This is cross-sectional study. The data were derived from the database of a cross-sectional study conducted in 2010 in 17 health units from Passos’ city, Minas Gerais. The sample consisted of 417 patients who had no treatment adherence. For analysis, we used descriptive statistics.

Results: Regarding drug treatment, the prevalence of nonadherence was higher among men (17.0%) in patients with 60 years old or older (17.1%), 4 to 8 years of education (18.3%), <10 years of diagnosis (16.0%) with inappropriate glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) (18.2%), triglycerides (18.0%), HDL cholesterol levels (17.2%), normal total cholesterol (18.4%) and LDL levels (17.9%). Regarding diet, the prevalence of nonadherence was higher among women (98.6%) in patients with 60 years old or older (98.5%), <4 years of education (98.9%), <10 years of diagnosis (98.4%) with inappropriate total cholesterol (99.0%), HDL (98.4%) and LDL cholesterol levels (98.4%), normal HbA1c (99.0%) and triglycerides levels (98.7%). Regarding physical activity, the prevalence of nonadherence was higher among women (43.5%), in patients under 60 years old (44.0%), 4 to 8 years of education (42.3%), ten or more years of diagnosis (42.2%) with inappropriate HbA1c (45.6%), total cholesterol (45.6%), HDL cholesterol levels (43.4%) and normal LDL cholesterol levels (46.4%).

Conclusion: The nonadherence to treatment was higher among women, patients aged 60 years or older, 4 to 8 years of study, <10 years of diabetes, HbA1c, total cholesterol and HDL-C above recommended, appropriate values of LDL-C.