The Relationship Between Perceived Social Support and Medication Adherence Among Adult Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients Attending the Diabetes Clinic in a Tertiary Health Institution in South- South Nigeria

Purpose: Medication adherence can be defined as the extent to which a patient’s behaviour corresponds to the medication dosing regimen including time, dosing, and interval of medication intake. In chronic conditions with long-term therapies like hypertension, diabetes, depression, etc., adherence is important in achieving target outcomes but is often low. It has long been recognized that support from family, friends and significant others do play a role in helping diabetics adhere to their medication which might lead to optimal glycaemic control. This study set out to find out what influence perceived social support has, as regards medication adherence among adult type 2 diabetic Nigerians assessing care in Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, Nigeria. Methodology: The study was conducted on 244 participants who attended the diabetic clinic of the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba from September to November 2018. Data was collected by means of an interviewer-administered questionnaire comprising of 3 sections. Section A was for sociodemographic characteristics, section B was the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale for information on medication adherence and section C was the modified Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support to collect information on perceived social support. Findings: All the recruited 244 participants completed the study giving a response rate of 100. The age range of the respondents was 18 to 87 years with a mean age of 51.9 ± 6.1 years. Females accounted for a higher percentage of respondents [60.2%] compared to their male counterparts [39.8%]. Good total perceived social support was significantly associated with high medication adherence [p=0.0001]. A good total perceived social support (OR = 3.27; 95% CI = 2.25 - 4.71; P = 0.0001) has 3.27 times the odds for high medication adherence than a poor total perceived social support. Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study shows that high medication adherence is significantly associated with good perceived social support. It is important that healthcare providers caring for patients with type 2 diabetes involve families, friends, or significant others in their management so as to improve their medication adherence. Routine evaluation of perceived social support is also recommended for type 2 diabetes patients with poor medication adherence.