Factors that contribute to blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: Diabetes needs to be well controlled so as not to cause acute and chronic complications. Therefore, it is necessary to comply with regimen therapy and control diet and physical exercise. Objective: This study aimed to assess the contribution of medication adherence and nonpharmacological therapy adherence, as well as other factors affecting blood sugar control. Method: This study involved 76 type 2 diabetic patients from a Community Health Center in East Surabaya. Medication adherence was measured with an ARMS questionnaire and pill count, while nonpharmacological therapy was measured with a self-developed questionnaire. Result: The majority of respondents have uncontrolled blood sugar levels, were not compliant with treatment both as measured by ARMS and by the pill count method, and are not compliant with nonpharmacological therapy with the following frequencies: 85.5% (n=65), 92.1% (n=70), 57.9% (n=44), 98.7% (n=75). The results of multiple correlation tests showed that age, duration of treatment, adherence to treatment with the ARMS method and the pill count method, and adherence to nonpharmacological therapy simultaneously affected blood sugar control by 72.7%. Conclusion: Factors that simultaneously determine poor blood sugar control are age, duration of diabetes therapy, non-adherence to treatment, and non-adherence to nonpharmacological therapy.