Latino adults with diabetes are less likely to follow their doctor’s instructions correctly and take their medications, which increases the risk of death, a study from the University of Southern California (USC) revealed on Tuesday.
Under the title “Evaluation of barriers to adherence to medication among Latinos with diabetes: a collateral study”, the report was made with diabetic patients from four clinics in Los Angeles who identified themselves as Latino, Hispanic or Chicano.
The research warns that Latino patients find it difficult to understand what medicines are for and how to adequately monitor the amount they have taken.
He also emphasizes that Hispanic adults with diabetes feel that they take many medications to control the disease.
The researchers focused on studying “adherence to medications,” a term used by the World Health Organization (WHO) to define the degree of patient behavior with respect to the recommendations of doctors.
“Obtaining patient perspectives is key to finding solutions that help improve adherence to medication and the health outcomes of this community,” said the researcher and lead author of the study, Andrea Bañuelos Mota.
For her part, Jo Marie Reilly, professor of Medicine at USC, assures that the results of this study “create awareness about the language and literacy barriers that our immigrant communities face”, and that it is necessary to address the problem.
It also highlights that simple measures, such as giving small containers to distribute the pills to patients, could make the difference between taking the medication or not.
The recommendations also help family members understand the medication regimen and have patients attend weekly educational sessions on how to control the disease and make life changes.
In the United States, Latino adults have higher rates of diabetes (12.8%) than non-Latino adults (7.6%); In addition, their chances of having poor glycemic control are greater.
With these risks and the mishandling of medical recommendations, the risk of amputations and death in these patients would be increased.
An analysis by Kaiser Health News, in California, revealed that between 2011 and 2017 more than 82,000 amputations were performed among diabetics.
African-American and Latino patients were more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have amputations related to diabetes. (EFEUSA) .-
