Adverse drug reactions to anti-diabetic drugs are commonest in patients whose treatment do not adhere to diabetes management clinical guidelines: cross-sectional study in a tertiary care service in sub-Saharan Africa

AbstractAimsThe study aimed to identify and describe adverse drug reactions and adherence to clinical guidelines in patients receiving treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Cameroon.MethodsThe method used was a cross-sectional study at a tertiary diabetes care service in Yaound é, Cameroon. Adult T2DM patients attending the diabetes clinic were interviewed using a pre-structured data collection form. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were self-reported by the patients. Naranjo’s algorithm and Hartwig and Siegel’s scale were used for assessment of causality and severity of ADRs, respectively. A blinded senior endocrinologist assessed whether treatment pattern of patients was “adherent” or not to local clinical guidelines for the management of diabetes.ResultsOf a total of 350 patients enrolled into the study 61.1% were on oral hypoglycaemic agents only, 24.9% were on both oral hypoglycaemic agents and insulin, while 13.4% were on insulin alone. Metformin was used by 96.3% of the patients. Ninety patients reported 101 suspected ADRs. The proportion of ADRs among patients with poor adherence to clinical guidelines was higher than ADRs reported among adherent patients (Chi-square test  = 7.3273;p = 0.007). Hypoglycaemia was more frequent ADR among non-adherent (25.7% of the suspected ADR) than adherent participants (11.6%). In the participants whose treatment pattern did not adhere to local clinical guidelines, ADRs were definite in 63.9%, probable in 16.6%...
Source: European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Source Type: research