Elifnur AVCI, Teslime AYAZ, Kamil KONUR
Turkish Journal of Internal Medicine - 2026;8(1):34-42
Objective: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease requiring long-term lifestyle modification and medical treatment. Inadequate disease management may lead to serious acute and chronic complications, increased morbidity, and reduced quality of life. Treatment adherence in diabetes is a multifactorial process influenced by pharmacological regimens, disease awareness, education level, and sociodemographic characteristics. Previous studies have shown that insufficient knowledge about the disease and low awareness are associated with poor glycemic control and accelerated disease progression. Given the lifelong nature of diabetes treatment, difficulties in disease acceptance and sustaining treatment adherence are common. Understanding how patients' awareness, education, and self-perceived knowledge relate to treatment adherence and laboratory outcomes may explain poor glycemic control. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between treatment adherence, disease awareness, and disease progression by analyzing questionnaire data and laboratory findings of patients admitted to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital.
