Exploration of the Reasons for Poor Adherence Among Metabolic Syndrome Patients Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Tamil Nadu, India: A Mixed Method Study

Background A major challenge in the treatment of MetS is the prevalence of low rates of adherence to the treatment regimen for individual components by the affected persons. This study aimed to estimate the medication adherence level among those with metabolic syndrome, determine the factors significantly associated with low adherence to medication, and explore the reasons for poor adherence to medication Materials and methods This sequential explanatory type of mixed method study was conducted among the metabolic syndrome patients attending the lifestyle clinic of a tertiary care hospital in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu, India. For the quantitative component, 210 was the sample size and for the qualitative component, the sample size was six. Adherence to drugs was assessed using the Morisky Medication Adherence eight-item Scale (MMAS 8). Results The mean age of the participants was 56.6+11.5 years with a female preponderance of 108 (51.5%). Medication adherence was low in 90 (42.7%) participants. A high degree of adherence was noted only in 41 (19.4%) participants. Multilogistic regression analysis revealed that patients on both oral drugs and insulin, patients with higher perceived stress levels, and those on low levels of physical activity were significantly associated with poor adherence. Conclusion Regular counseling and reinforcement by the treating physician to improve adherence to medication at the grassroots level is important. Information, Education, and Communication and Behaviour Change Communication methods can be adopted to improve knowledge and to bring about a change in behavior in order to curb this problem.