Investigating Compliance with Insulin Injection Regimens among Diabetic Patients in Najran University Hospital

Abstract

Background: Many people suffer from diabetes in Saudi Arabia and around 67.9% of diabetic patients in the country are non-compliant to treatment. Therefore, it is pertinent to explore issues on contributory factors to non-compliance.  The aim of study was to investigate what factors affect patient compliance with an insulin regimen as part of self-management in Najran University Hospital.

Methodology: An exploratory descriptive study was undertaken and adopting a cross sectional survey approach. The sample consisted of 150 participants. Simple random sampling was used to select who were registered with Chronic Disease Clinics at Najran University Hospital. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data over 2-week period in March 2022.

Results:  The sample consisted of 90 patients, of which 53.3% were male and while 46.7% were female. The results show largely positive findings regarding compliance. However, many participants exhibited poor attitudes, lacked self-management skills, and health education information. Inferential statistics confirmed statistically significant findings regarding the relationship between the poor attitude score and the poor the self-management.  Knowledge of how to take insulin injections; fear of insulin injection; having a monitoring device; health conditions; diabetes type residence location education; and seeing diabetes educators were factors that contributed to attitudes.

Conclusion: The findings from this study demonstrated that compliance with self-management advice is variable among diabetic patients.  It is of utmost importance for diabetic patients in Saudi Arabia to be educated and supported in all aspects of self-management to avoid diabetic complications.