Rational Drug Use in Type 2 Diabetic Patients Who Applied to the Family Medicine Diabetes Outpatient Clinic

INTRODUCTION: Diabetes is a widespread chronic disease in society that requires continuous medication treatment and monitoring, and it leads to productivity loss and premature deaths. Rational drug use is of great importance in diabetic patients. This study was conducted to determine the level of rational drug use knowledge among type 2 diabetes patients and the factors influencing it.
METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional survey. A total of 234 patients with type 2 diabetes who completed the questionnaires were randomly sampled. A Participant Information Collection Form, which included sociodemographic characteristics, accompanying chronic diseases in diabetes, medications used in diabetes treatment, HbA1c level in the last three months, and body mass index information, as well as the Rational Drug Use Scale, were administered to the participants through face-to-face interviews. The patients were categorized into two groups: those utilizing rational medications and those who were not. Subsequently, a logistic regression analysis was executed to determine the factors predicting rational medication usage within the established model. SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis and calculations.
RESULTS: The mean score of the Rational Drug Use Scale for patients was found to be 34.9. It was found that 59.8% of the participants had knowledge of rational drug use. Factors affecting knowledge of rational drug use were gender, education level, and income level; being female and having a higher education level and income level significantly predicted the scale score of rational drug use knowledge.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The study found that 40% of patients with diabetes mellitus did not have knowledge of rational drug use. It would be appropriate to provide more information to diabetic patients and physicians regarding rational drug use.