Depression and loneliness are some of the factors most associated with poor adherence to the treatment of type 2 diabetes.

This is one of the conclusions of a study carried out by researchers from Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) and CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research, published in the Portuguese Journal of General Practice and Family Medicine.

In this study, about 38% of patients with type 2 diabetes do not adhere to therapy, that is, they do not correctly take the drugs prescribed to them by the doctor to control the disease.

According to Paulo Santos (CINTESIS/FMUP), study coordinator, diabetics with symptons of depression or are lonely are also those whose adherence to treatment is poorer.

On the contrary, diabetic patients with hypertension, who never smoked and those who live with their partner are the ones with the highest rates of adherence to pharmacological therapy, highlighting the importance of social determinants in controlling the disease.

“Apparently hypertension will be perceived as a more serious disease and, therefore, leads to better adherence to treatments in this group of diabetics,” say the authors.

In this sample, composed of almost a hundred participants, patients are mainly women (54%). On average, they are 61 years old, with less than nine years of schooling (88%) and retired (62%). On average, these patients have been suffering from diabetes for about 10 years, take more than four different drugs a day, and have other diseases, such as high blood pressure (63%), dyslipidemia (46%), and obesity (38%).

Poor adherence to diabetes treatment appears to be associated with significantly higher blood glucose levels, translated into higher levels of glycated hemoglobin, which reflects poor disease control.

“These results help to understand which patients are at higher risk of non-adherence, where doctors should have a proactive attitude of systematic screening of the degree of adherence to treatments, in a holistic perspective, of looking at the person as a whole and not just as the bearer of a certain disease,” they indicate.

It is estimated that there are 422 million adults with diabetes worldwide. In Portugal, it is estimated that they represent 13.3% of the Portuguese population who are 20 to 79 years old.