Barriers to Therapeutic Regimen Adherence of Type II Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Iligan City, Philippines

The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers that have an impact on the adherence to therapeutic regimen among Type II diabetics in Iligan City. Specifically, it attempted to evaluate if there's a significant relationship among the patients' length of diagnosis, blood sugar level, awareness of the disease,their relationship towards their doctors and the availability and accessibility to healthcare services as to their adherence to therapeutic regimen in terms of their medication, diet, exercise, lifestyle and stress reduction techniques. It also tried to examine if the patients' profiles (age, gender, religion, civil status,educational attainment, work status, family monthly income, social support system and clinic) can influence their therapeutic regimen adherence. This study used the Descriptive Survey Method. 10 self-structured questionnaires derived from published questionnaires were given to 56 Type II diagnosed diabetes mellitus patients in the private and public clinics of Iligan City, selected through random sampling technique. Data generated by the questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlations. Results from thesurvey showed that the patients' accessibility to healthcare services and their social support system largely affect their medication adherence. Female and working patients are more diligent in taking their medication. Patients having their consultation in the public clinic and those with lower blood glucose level prove to have a better performance in lifestyle modification. Patients who are married, working, and who are more aware about their disease showed to be more effective in reducing stress than the other patients. Patients in thepublic clinic exercise more than those in the private clinics. Finally, the frequency in which the patients were doing exercise is greatly affected on how efficient their healthcare providers ar