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CONTEXT: Control of diabetes mellitus is a global challenge and nonadherence to diabetic medications is a public health concern. Factors related to patients, medications, and system can contribute to nonadherence. AIMS: We aimed to determine self-reported adherence to oral hypoglycemics and to understand the determinants of medication adherence in a group of adult diabetics in South Kerala. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 218 diabetic individuals. An eight-item questionnaire to assess the level of adherence and a structured interview schedule were administered to meet the objectives. Adherence was categorized as poor, moderate and high, based on k-means cluster analysis. RESULTS: The proportion of good adherence was 60.09%. Higher age, male gender, nonalcoholic, higher family income, higher frequency of blood glucose monitoring, and controlled blood sugar level were independent predictors of good adherence. CONCLUSION: The proportion of individuals with poor medication adherence is low. Focus must be on determining factors influencing medication nonadherence.
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OBJECTIVES: Though dissertation is mandatory for postgraduates (PG), it is unknown if adequate knowledge on plagiarism exists at that level. Thus, we intended to study the knowledge and attitude towards plagiarism among junior doctors in India. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study SETTING: PG medical residents and Junior faculty from various teaching institutions across south India. PARTICIPANTS: A total of N=786 doctors filled the questionnaires of which approximately 42.7% were from government medical colleges (GMCs) and the rest from private institutions. METHODS: Participants were given a pretested semistructured questionnaire which contained: (1) demographic details; (2) a quiz developed by Indiana University, USA to assess knowledge and (3) Attitudes towards Plagiarism Questionnaire (ATPQ). OUTCOME MEASURES: The Primary outcome measure was knowledge about plagiarism. The secondary outcome measure was ATPQ scores. RESULTS: A total of N=786 resident doctors and junior faculty from across 11 institutions participated in this study. Of this, 42.7% were from GMCs and 60.6% were women. The mean (SD) knowledge score was 4.43 (1.99) out of 10. The factors (adjusted OR; 95% CI; p value) that emerged as significant predictors of knowledge were number of years in profession (-0.181; -0.299 to -0.062; 0.003), no previous publication (0.298; 0.099 to 0.498; 0.003) and working in a GMC (0.400; 0.106 to 0.694; 0.008). The overall mean (SD) scores of the three attitude components were: Permissive attitudes-37.33 (5.33), critical attitudes -20.32 (4.82) and subjective norms-31.05 (4.58), all of which corresponded to the moderate category. CONCLUSION: Participants lacked adequate knowledge on how to avoid plagiarism suggesting a need for a revamp in medical education curriculum in India by incorporating research and publication ethics.
