Insulin perception among insulin-na?ve type-2 diabetes mellitus patients in Pakistan

摘要

This cross sectional study was conducted to assess insulin perception among insulin na?ve type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients who attended an outpatient department in a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. A total of 160 T2DM patients participated in the study, whereby the majority (64.4%) were females, nearly 50% were jobless and 20% were doing a government job. Nearly 65% patients were unwilling to use insulin and approximately every 9 in 10 (90%) patients had negative perception regarding insulin therapy. Furthermore, the insulin perception was significantly associated with the gender (95% CI?=?8.691–16.378; p ??0.001), level of education (95% CI?=?0.835–4.577; p ??0.005), and monthly income (95% CI?=?0.071–3.785; p ??0.042) of patients. In conclusion, the majority of insulin-na?ve T2DM patients were unwilling to initiate the insulin therapy due to their negative perception. Therefore, healthcare professionals should provide sufficient information regarding insulin therapy and try their best to minimize insulin resistance in patients. In addition, policy-makers should be aware of the low-utilization of insulin therapy by patients especially for those with poor living conditions. We recommend, policies should be developed and implemented to promote health literacy and health equity throughout the country.