Utilization of medicines among Filipinos with diabetes: Determinants of health outcomes

• Main Author: Ngo, Frances Lois U.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Diabetics—Drug use—Philippines—Manila; Drug utilization—Philippines—Manila; Diabetics—Philippines—Manila—Social conditions; Medicine and Health
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6562; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=13574&context=etd_masteral
• Institution: De La Salle University

Diabetes is a non-communicable disease which accounts for the fifth among the top causes of mortality and is observed as a comorbidity in diseases commonly affecting Filipinos such as hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The high prevalence of diabetes makes it important for patients to have adequate access to medicines used to control their disease and to have proper medication adherence to achieve positive health outcomes. The study sought to explain the utilization of medicines by Filipinos in Manila City and to associate this to their health outcomes. This quantitative study applied a descriptive, cross-sectional design and used a survey questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. Respondents were selected using purposive non-random sampling in the health centers of Manila City. There were 100 respondents who answered the survey questionnaire through a face-to-face interview. In average, the age of the respondents was 57.36 ± 15.36 with more than half of them being female. Most of the respondents had a high school or vocational education and reported having less than Php 19,040.00 family income per month, while majority also said they were unemployed. Overall utilization of medicines was found to be high which can be attributed to respondent characteristics with direct access to health centers. The study found that access to health providers positively affects utilization of medicines when there is access to both health professionals and health services. The study suggests that even when patients purchase generic medicines, they do not believe that generics have the same quality with branded medicines; and even if they buy generics, they still believe that medicines are expensive which significantly reduce their purchasing power to buy household goods. Furthermore, the study found that affordability and medication adherence have a positive relationship with health outcomes for diabetes. Thus, it is vital that affordability and medication adherence be addressed for patients to achieve optimal health outcomes.