Barriers and facilitators to adherence to anti-diabetic medications: Ethiopian patients' perspectives

Little is known about the experiences of Ethiopian patients with type 2 diabetes related to adherence to their anti-diabetic medications. This may limit attempts to develop and implement patient-centred approaches that consider Ethiopian contexts. To conduct an exploratory study with a focus on identifying barriers and facilitators to anti-diabetic medications adherence in Ethiopian patients with type 2 diabetes. Qualitative methods were used to conduct semi-structured interviews with 39 purposively selected participants attending clinic in three public hospitals in central Ethiopia. Open coding was used to analyse the data to identify key themes. A number of factors were identified as barriers and facilitators to participants' adherence to their anti-diabetic medications. The most common factors were perceptions related to their illness including symptoms, consequences and curability; perceptions of medications including safety concerns, convenience and their necessity; religious healing practices and beliefs; perceptions about and experiences with their healthcare providers and the healthcare system including the availability of medications and diabetes education; and finally perceived self-efficacy and social support. The findings of this study provide guidance to strengthen diabetes education programmes so that they reflect local patient contexts focusing among other things on the illness itself and the anti-diabetic medications.