The Relationship Between Disease Awareness and Treatment Adherence in Patients with Diabetes: A Single-Center Study

Objective: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease requiring long-term lifestyle modification and medical treatment. Inadequate disease management may lead to serious acute and chronic complications, increased morbidity, and reduced quality of life. Treatment adherence in diabetes is a multifactorial process influenced by pharmacological regimens, disease awareness, education level, and sociodemographic characteristics. Previous studies have shown that insufficient knowledge about the disease and low awareness are associated with poor glycemic control and accelerated disease progression. Given the lifelong nature of diabetes treatment, difficulties in disease acceptance and sustaining treatment adherence are common. Understanding how patients’ awareness, education, and self-perceived knowledge relate to treatment adherence and laboratory outcomes may explain poor glycemic control. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between treatment adherence, disease awareness, and disease progression by analyzing questionnaire data and laboratory findings of patients admitted to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital. Methods: This study was conducted using a questionnaire-based survey administered to 500 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus for at least three months who attended Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital. Results: Of the 500 diabetic patients included in the study, 284 (56.8%) were female and 216 (43.2%) were male. The mean age of the participants was 59.7 ± 13.1 years. The mean HbA1c level was 7.7 ±1.59, while the mean Morisky adherence score was 5.4 ± 1.7. Low adherence was observed in 259 patients (51.8%), moderate adherence in 172 patients (34.4%), and high adherence in 69 patients (13.8%). A statistically significant difference was found between Morisky adherence categories and HbA1c levels (p < 0.001). HbA1c levels were highest among patients with low adherence and lowest among those with high adherence. Conclusion: HbA1c levels were significantly higher in patients with low Morisky adherence scores, whereas the lowest HbA1c levels were observed in patients with high adherence. Additionally, the proportion of patients with high adherence was significantly greater among those receiving oral antidiabetic therapy alone compared to those receiving combined insulin and oral antidiabetic treatment.