Adherence to treatment and fears of hypoglycaemia in individuals with TYPE2 diabetes

Aim: This study was conducted as a descriptive study in order to determine the adherence to treatment and fear of hypoglycemia in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Method: The study was carried out with 376 type 2 diabetic individuals who applied to the Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Polyclinic of Akdeniz University Hospital between January-June 2019. The Patient Information Form, Adherence Scale to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Treatment and Hypoglycemia Fear Survey were applied to collect the study data and SAS 9.4 package program was used for statistical analysis. Data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square, Shapiro-Wilk and variation analysis. Results: It was determined that 58.2% of the participants were female, mean age was 62.19 ± 9.60, 57.7% were primary school graduates, 50.3% were using oral antidiabetic, 34.5% were using oral antidiabetic and insulin. Individuals' adherence to treatment was moderate (60.9%) and fears of hypoglycemia were low (x̄=1.20). There was a statistically significant difference between adherence compliance and fear of hypoglycemia and education, economic status, coexistence with partners or family, blood glucose measurement at home, physical activity, having diabetes-related problems, education about diabetes and education about hypoglycemia (p<0.05). It was found that individuals with type 2 diabetes had decreased adherence with treatment with increased fear of hypoglycemia (p <0.05). Conclusion: It was found that the participants' adherence with the treatment was moderate and the fears of hypoglycemia were low; hypoglycemia fear increased adherence with treatment decreased. It is recommended that appropriate nursing interventions should be planned to increase the adherence to treatment and reduce the fear of hypoglycemia in people with type 2 diabetes.