Factors Correlating with Anti-Diabetic Medicine Beliefs in Vietnamese Outpatients with Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract

An key issue for both patients and clinicians has been poor antidiabetic drug adherence, which raises the medical burden and creates
problems associated to diabetes. Partially improving patients' non-adherence status to drugs may be achieved by improving their ideas
about medicine. Outpatients with type 2 diabetes at Hue University Hospital were surveyed to determine their attitudes about antidiabetic
medication. The Endocrinology Clinic at Hue University Hospital recruited 396 outpatients with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus
using a simple sample approach. The research followed certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. The Beliefs about Medicines
Questionnaire (BMQ-V) in Vietnamese, published by Dr. Nguyen Thang et al., served as the basis for our questionnaire that we used to
interview patients. The initial step was to identify the factors that were linked with BMQ-V and subscale scores using statistical methods
such as paired sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, and chi-squared. The factors were then compared using Multivariate
Regression Analysis to the BMQ-V and its subscale scores. We used SPSS 20.0 to examine all of the data. The median age of the 396
individuals with type 2 diabetes who participated in the research was 66.9±13.7 years. The participants' beliefs on medicine obtained an
average score of 50.3±8.1, as per the BMQ-V questionnaire. There was a statistically significant correlation between the BMQ score and
HbA1c control status, duration of diabetes, and home blood glucose monitoring, as shown by multivariate regression analysis (p=0.001,
p=0.003, and p<0.001). Patients with uncontrolled HbA1c levels (S-N:9.6±3.7) believed that taking antidiabetic medicines was more
important than the control group (S-N:10.9±4.4), and there was a statistically significant difference in the trust that diabetic patients with
longer disease duration (S-N: 9.1±3.5) had in the effects of their medications on their health compared to patients with shorter duration
(S-N: 11.3±4.4). The mean scores on the Specific-Concerns, General-Overuse, and General-Harm subscales were significantly lower than
those of other groups (p<0.001; p=0.003; p=0.001), suggesting that the group that monitored their blood sugar at home regularly (>2
times/week) was very worried about the potential harmful long-term effects. Consequently, to increase medication adherence and treatment
efficacy, it is necessary to gradually decrease negative beliefs about medicines, educate patients about the long-term side effects of
medications, encourage them to monitor their blood glucose levels at home, and encourage them to make lifestyle changes.