Medication Use and Self-Care Practices in Persons With Diabetes

Excerpt

Individuals diagnosed with diabetes often take medications to control and manage their diabetes and engage in self-care practices. Among adults with diagnosed diabetes in the United States, 88.2% use either oral medications, insulin, or a combination of both to treat and control diabetes. Diabetes treatment patterns differ by demographics, duration since diabetes diagnosis, and glycosylated hemoglobin (A1c) levels. Adults with diabetes often have a number of comorbid conditions that require treatment and medications. An adult with diagnosed diabetes in the United States reports using an average of 5.9 different prescription medications. This number is higher than the average reported by adults with undiagnosed diabetes, prediabetes, or no diabetes (range 2.5–4.3). Diabetes self-care practices are also an important component of diabetes treatment. The majority of adults with diagnosed diabetes report self-care practices, such as receiving a dilated eye exam (62.8%), self-monitoring of blood glucose (63.6%), and receiving a foot exam (67.5%). Report of self-care practices differs by demographics, time since diabetes diagnosis, and geography. Pancreatic transplants and bariatric surgery are sometimes indicated for the treatment of diabetes. However, these procedures are not common and entail a number of additional risks. Describing medication use, treatment patterns, and self-care practices among individuals with diabetes provides information to health care and public health professionals to better understand the multifactorial aspects of diabetes treatment.