Many diabetics may doubt benefits of medication

Many people with type 2 diabetes may be skeptical about the safety and effectiveness of their medications, African Americans in particular, a new study suggests.

What's more, researchers found, study participants with the greatest safety concerns tended to underuse prescriptions for controlling blood sugar and blood pressure - a fact that could raise their risk of diabetes complications.

The results suggest that doctors could do a better job discussing medication benefits and risks, the researchers report in the journal Diabetes Care.

For their part, patients should bring any concerns about potential drug side effects to their doctors, lead researcher Dr. James E. Aikens told Reuters Health.

"If they do not, the physician will often assume that everything is working out fine, whereas the patient feels like the physician may be holding information back," explained Aikens, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The findings are based on surveys of 806 diabetes patients, many of whom were low-income. More than half were African American.

In general, the researchers found, many patients were concerned about the necessity or safety of their medications for controlling blood sugar or high blood pressure. Black patients were more likely than white patients to have safety worries.

The study also found that up to half of patients underused at least one of their medications. This was often because of costs, but patients who worried about medication safety were also more likely to skip doses.

While such concerns were more common among African Americans, they were also more often seen among patients who were dissatisfied with the information they'd received from their doctor, regardless of race.

That, the researchers say, suggests that better communication might ease some patients' worries - and possibly boost their treatment adherence.

Aikens suggested that diabetes patients "get the ball rolling" by bringing a list of their treatment questions to their medical appointments and by clearly stating their concerns at the beginning of the visit.

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, January 2009.