Cross-sectional study finds low awareness of adverse drug reactions in rural patients with diabetes and hypertension, highlighting medication knowledge gaps.
Introduction: Patient knowledge about medications is crucial for treatment effectiveness and compliance in chronic conditions such as diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN). Materials and Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study assessed medication knowledge amongst 201 rural patients with type-2 DM and/or HTN in Tamil Nadu using a pre-validated questionnaire. Chi-square test and regression analysis of the data were done. Results: Only 42.3% (95% confidence interval: 35.3–49.4) had good knowledge (score (4/5). While 91.5% knew medication frequency, just 13.9% were aware of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Good knowledge was significantly associated with literacy, marital status, treatment duration <10 years, higher health expenditure (>10% of income), single comorbidity (DM/HTN only) and private healthcare use, whereas polypharmacy reduced knowledge. Conclusions: Findings suggest that while overall medication knowledge is moderate, awareness of ADRs remains poor. Patients on multiple medications require targeted counselling to improve knowledge. Enhancing ADR education is essential for safer medication use in rural populations.
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Gurumurthy et al. (2025) studied this question.
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