Shiyanbola, O. O., Brown, C. M., & Ward, E. C. (2018). “l did not want to take that medicine”: African-Americans’ reasons for diabetes medication nonadherence and perceived solutions for enhancing adherence. Patient Preference and Adherence, 12, 409-421.
The article under consideration provides details regarding African American patients’ perceptions regarding medication use with a focus on the reasons for adherence or non-adherence to the medication regimen. Forty patients (aged between 40 and 60 years old) shared their views and concerns on the matter during 90-minute face-to-face interviews. Shiyanbola et al. (2018) note that the major reasons behind non-adherence were associated with cultural factors. The participants had quite specific attitudes toward illness and medication. For example, patients did not see the need to take medicine if no symptoms were explicit. They simply did not believe they had a disease or had a belief that diabetes is not actually a disorder. Besides, the participants were rather mistrustful as to the effectiveness and safety of the medication they had to use. Frustration as to the lasting intake of medicine was rather a common condition among the participants. Some participants also stressed that the lack of knowledge was an influential reason for non-adherence in their community. It was also found that proper access to information and healthcare practitioners’ attention to the matter was seen as possible solutions to the problem.
The article in question is related to the topic regarding potential cultural/ethnic/socioeconomic barriers to medication adherence. The researchers shed light on the attitudes of a particular group toward medication adherence. The group has certain cultural and socioeconomic peculiarities as African Americans’ perceptions often differ from other racial and ethnic cohorts. Thus, it is clear that the target population has specific beliefs concerning illness (diabetes) and medication effectiveness, which is associated with the cultural component. Participants’ concerns linked to the lack of knowledge are related to socioeconomic aspects as minorities often have limited access to high-quality health care (that encompasses patient education).
Reference
Shiyanbola, O. O., Brown, C. M., & Ward, E. C. (2018). “l did not want to take that medicine”: African-Americans’ reasons for diabetes medication nonadherence and perceived solutions for enhancing adherence. Patient Preference and Adherence, 12, 409-421.