title: Medication adherence and direct treatment cost among diabetes patients attending a tertiary healthcare facility in Ogbomosho, Nigeria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diabetes mellitus (DM) is now prevalent in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with associated health and socioeconomic consequences. Adherence to antidiabetic medications has been shown to improve glycaemic control, which subsequently improves both the short- and long-term prognosis of the disease. The main objective of this study was to assess the level of adherence to antidiabetic drugs among outpatients in a teaching hospital in southwestern Nigeria.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was carried out using the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) among diabetic patients attending the medical outpatients' diabetes clinic of Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, in Ogbomosho, Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria, during a three-month period (October to December 2013).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 129 patients participated in the study with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.5. Seventy-eight (60.5%) patients had systemic hypertension as a comorbid condition while the remaining were being managed for diabetes mellitus alone. Only 6 (4.7%) of the patients had type 1 DM while the remaining 123 (95.3%) were diagnosed with type 2 DM. Metformin was the most prescribed oral hypoglycaemic agent (n = 111, 58.7%) followed by glibenclamide (n = 49, 25.9%). Medication adherence was classified as good, medium, and poor for 52 (40.6%), 42 (32.8%), and 34 (26.6%) patients, respectively. Medication costs accounted for 72.3% of the total direct cost of DM in this study, followed by the cost of laboratory investigations (17.6%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adherence of diabetes patients in the study sample to their medications was satisfactory. There is a need for the integration of generic medicines into routine care as a way of further reducing the burden of healthcare expenditure on the patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fadare
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) and LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho, Nigeria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olamoyegun
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho, Nigeria.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Gbadegesin
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin