Type D Personality Predicts Poor Medication Adherence in Chinese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Six-Month Follow-Up Study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 2; p. e0146892
• Main Authors: Li, Xuemei, Zhang, Shengfa, Xu, Huiwen, Tang, Xinfeng, Zhou, Huixuan, Yuan, Jiaqi, Wang, Xiaohua, Qu, Zhiyong, Wang, Fugang, Zhu, He, Guo, Shuai, Tian, Donghua, Zhang, Weijun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 19.02.2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Adhesion; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Army; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Cardiovascular disease; Care and treatment; China; Continuity (mathematics); Coronary artery; Coronary artery disease; Data collection; Demographic aspects; Demographics; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - psychology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - therapy; Diabetics; Drugs; Female; Females; Follow-Up Studies; Health aspects; Health education; Health literacy; Health risk assessment; Heart; Heart diseases; Heart failure; Hospitals; Humans; Male; Medication adherence; Medication Adherence - psychology; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Mortality; Myocardial infarction; Patient compliance; Patients; Personality; Pharmacy; Physical Sciences; Psychiatry; Public health; Public policy; Quality of life; Random sampling; Regression analysis; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk groups; Social change; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic factors; Statistical tests; Studies; Type 2 diabetes; Type D Personality; China; United States; Beijing China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146892

Type D personality and medication nonadherence have been shown to be associated with poor health outcomes. Type D personality is associated with poor medication adherence in patients with coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. However, the relationship between type D personality and medication adherence in patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) remains unknown. This study aims to examine whether type D personality was associated with medication adherence in patients with T2DM. A follow-up study was conducted in general hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing. 412 T2DM patients (205 females), who were recruited by circular systematic random sampling, provided demographic and baseline data about medical information and completed measures of Type D personality. Then, 330 patients went on to complete a self-report measure of medication adherence at the sixth month after baseline data collection. Chi-square test, t tests, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted, as needed. Patients with type D personality were significantly more likely to have poor medication adherence (p<0.001). Type D personality predicts poor medication adherence before and after controlling for covariates when it was analyzed as a categorical variable. However, the dimensional construct of type D personality was not associated with medication adherence when analyzed as a continuous variable. Although, as a dimensional construct, type D personality may not reflect the components of the personality associated with poor medication adherence in patients with T2DM, screening for type D personality may help to identify those who are at higher risk of poor medication adherence. Interventions, aiming to improve medication adherence, should be launched for these high-risk patients.