Explaining Poor Medication Adherence among Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in an Urban Community Health Center

Nonadherence to diabetes medication is a common and costly problem, significantly precluding the evidence-based benefits of diabetes care. Nonadherence is also a poorly understood multifactorial behavior, particularly among African Americans with type 2 diabetes receiving care in under-resourced primary care settings. We investigated several known or suspected individual-level factors influencing diabetes medication adherence among a predominantly African American group of adults with diabetes at a local community health center. Overall diabetes medication adherence was observed to be surprisingly low at 23% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 19%–26%) and did not differ by medication type (p=.435). Common sociodemographic factors were poor predictors of adherence. However, self-perceived health and presence of comorbid conditions were significant. The strongest independent predictors of diabetes medication adherence in this population were a heart attack and having maintained a desired level of glycemic control, indicating the importance of specific comorbidities and motivation for self-care in tailoring interventions to improve adherence.