Validation of a tool to assess medication treatment satisfaction in patients with Type 2 diabetes: the Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire (DMSRQ)

Diabet. Med. 29, 10601066 (2012) Aim To assess the reliability and validity of the Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire among 537 US adults with Type 2 diabetes using five different diabetes medication regimens (oral agents with and without insulin; insulin only by syringe and by pen; glucagon-like peptide 1 agents). Methods The Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire assesses the treatment experience of patients using any diabetes medication system that uses nine measures (Convenience, Negative Events, Interference, Self-Monitoring of Blood Glucose Burden, Efficacy, Social Burden, Psychological Well-Being, Treatment Satisfaction, Treatment Preference). It was administered via an initial online survey, along with other validated measures of treatment satisfaction and medication adherence, with a retest administered within 2 weeks. Participants were 52.5% male, 57.4% aged 4064 years, 83.6% white and 95.2% non-Hispanic. Most (75.6%) had attended college and 58.3% had been diagnosed with diabetes for more than 10 years. Results Median inter-item agreement was 0.86. Median testretest reliability was also 0.86. All correlations between Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire measures and criterion measures of treatment satisfaction and adherence were statistically significant (P < 0.01) in the expected direction. Correlations between Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire and the corresponding criterion measures of treatment satisfaction ranged from 0.349 to 0.629 (absolute values; interpolated median 0.568); correlations of the same measures with adherence ranged from 0.384 to 0.450 (absolute values; mean 0.411). Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire measures differentiated among groups taking different medications and those using different delivery systems for the same medication. Conclusions This study suggests that the Diabetes Medication System Rating Questionnaire has good reliability and validity and provides a more comprehensive set of measures than existing medication satisfaction questionnaires.