(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Adolescents with Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in Qatar have only around 40% adherence in following physician's recommendations, with the vast majority having uncontrolled diabetes, according to a MSc project of Qatar University College of Pharmacy (QU-CPH) graduate Sohayla Ibrahim. She recently successfully defended her MSc thesis entitled 'Assessment of Adherence, Barriers and Strengths to Adherence among Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes in Qatar: Perspectives of Patients and their Caregivers.
Adolescents with T1DM tend to have very poor glucose control due to many reasons, one of which is the decline in the extent of following physician's recommendations noted with teenagers, it was pointed out.
The MSc project, conducted at Sidra Medicine, was to assess the level of adherence of adolescents with T1DM in Qatar and to identify the barriers/facilitators of adherence from the perspectives of the patients and their caregivers. The public defence of the project was recently convened through WebEx with the attendance of many faculty members, an external examiner from the UK, and several graduate students.
The MSc project was supervised by QU-CPH professor and Clinical Pharmacy & Practice Department head Dr Ahmed Awaisu, QU-CPH associate professor of Clinical Pharmacy & Practice and associate dean of Academic Affairs Dr Maguy ElHajj, and Dr QU-CPH assistant professor of Clinical Pharmacy & Practice Yaw Owusu. The project is in collaboration with Sidra Medicine's Dr. Maryam Khaja (acting manager - Clinical Pharmacy Services and Clinical Pharmacy Specialist), Dr. Amel Khalifa (endocrinologist), and Dr Dalia Ahmed (clinical pharmacist).
The research study is the first to assess the level of adherence of adolescents and to explore barriers and facilitators to adherence among this vulnerable population. It further described many factors associated with adherence from the perspectives of adolescents and their caregivers including patient-related factors, societal influence, medication and device-related factors, healthcare system-related factors, and lifestyle, school, and environment-related factors.
It was interesting that the study had identified country-specific factors that were not previously reported in the published literature, including extremely hot weather, cultural issues, wide use of food applications advertising for unhealthy diet, high reliance on rice and wheat, and unaffordable cost of gyms and sport clubs, among the barriers to adherence. The study concluded that factors associated with adherence require a lot of attention to be able to optimise adherence among adolescents with T1DM, hence, achieve glycemic control and prevent short- and long-term complications of diabetes.
'Adolescents is a population that is globally understudied, but identified as one of the populations of priority in the Qatar National Health Strategy 2018-2022," pointed out Ibrahim. She stressed that T1DM incidence is generally high in Qatar and increasing.
"Having poor glycemic control leads to many complications, therefore, our study tried to assess one of the predictors of poor glycemic control which is the poor adherence. Our study confirmed that the level of adherence and glycemic control are suboptimal among this vulnerable population and it helped in magnifying the need to draw attention to this population.
"This study has provided data that can be utilised by healthcare providers and policymakers to optimise adherence and improve health outcomes. My experience throughout this journey was full of ups and downs; however, my scope of knowledge, skills, and experience as an early career researcher became much broader. I was able to have two publications and received two research grants from Qatar University.
Prof Awaisu observed that the paediatric and adolescent population is generally neglected in clinical research and there is paucity of published literature related to medication-taking behaviour in adolescents with diabetes.
"Furthermore, glycemic control largely depends on adherence (including medication-taking, dietary control, physical activity, and glucose monitoring). These issues are understudied in adolescents and most clinical decisions and practice guidelines are based on extrapolation of evidence from the adult population.
"It is highly warranted to increase conducting clinical and socio-behavioural research geared towards promoting better health outcomes in this population. This research team made a giant stride to investigate the level of adherence, glycemic control, and their relationship as well as issues surrounding adherence among adolescents with type 1 diabetes in Qatar from the perspective of the patients and their caregivers. We are proud to have Ms. Sohayla Ibrahim as a talented and committed MSc student on the project who made some important contributions to knowledge and science.
Dr Fatima Mraiche, section head of Research and Graduate Studies, QU-CPH, added that the collaboration with Sidra is sure to contribute to enhanced pharmacy care in Qatar.
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