An assessment of factors affecting compliance of patients with type 2 diabetes

Background. Diabetes care is a complex action requiring physician-patient compliance. There are several factors potentially affecting doctor's recommendations for patients. Objectives. The aim of the study was to assess which factors play the main role in complying with recommendations given due to type 2 diabetes (DM2) treatment. Material and methods. The authors examined 102 patients treated at least 2 years because of DM2. The study was performed with authors' questionnaire containing questions concerning complying with doctors' recommendations. The presence of diabetic complications was checked, previous medical data and the results of laboratory tests were analyzed. Results. 64 patients (62.7%) had been previously treated by general practitioners (GP) and 38 patients (37.3%) by diabetologists (DA). The authors did not find statistically significant differences between mean assessment of compliance between GP and DA group. There was higher percentage of patients, who complied with recommendations very well (32% DA vs 20% GP) and also higher percentage of patients, who complied insufficiently (18% DA vs 5% GP in the DA good). The authors did not find significant differences in mean assessment of compliance between patients differentiated by age, sex, accommodation place, educational status, material status, duration of diabetes, presence of diabetic complications, self-assessment of progression of diabetes. The authors did not find correlation between mean assessment of compliance and neither mean BMI nor HbA(1c) level. Conclusions. 1. The compliance of diabetic patients seems to be insufficient. 2. There were more very disciplined patients and insufficiently complying patients among patients treated by diabetologists compared to ones treated by GP. 3. No examined factor affected compliance of patients with DM2.