Sulfonylurea Pharmacotherapy Regimen Adherence in a Medicaid Population: Influence of Age, Gender, and Race

Abstract

This study examines the behavioral responses of IDDM patients to per ceived hypoglycemic symptoms. To determine whether or not patients used reflectance meters to confirm low blood glu cose (BG) levels before self-treatment, a survey was administered that asked participants to report their hypoglycemic symptoms, their confidence in ability to recognize hypogly cemia, and their first four actions after perceiving hypoglycemic symptoms. Of 79 respondents, the majority reported not using self-measurement to confirm low BG levels before taking action to raise those levels. Patients who reported more symp toms were more confident in their ability to recognize low BG levels.