Self Care, Drug Taking Adherence, and their Association with Complication in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major global health issue. The incidence of DM worldwide was about 6.4% (285 million people) in 2010 and it is projected to increase to 7.7% in 2030. Diabetes is associated with a number of challenges. The disease has a great influence on the patient’s daily life, their relatives, nurses and physicians. Complications of diabetes represent the major causes of morbidity and mortality that are associated with this chronic metabolic disorder. This study aimed to examine the associations of self care and drug taking adherence with the risk of complication in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.Subjects and Method: A case control study was conducted at Dr.Soeroto Hospital, Ngawi, East Java. A sample of 150 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was selected for this study by fixed disease sampling, consisting of 75 patients with and 75 patients without complication. The dependent variable was complication. The independent variables were self care, drug taking adherence, motivation, duration of illness, family support, and health personnel support. Data on complication of type 2 DM were obtained from medical record. The other data were collected by questionnaire. The data were analyzed by path analysis.Results: The risk of type 2 DM complication decreased with better self care (b = -3.34; 95% CI= -4.47 to -2.22; p<0.001) and adherence to drug taking (b = -3.73; 95% CI= -5.06 to -2.41; p