Background: Insulin is one of the most important anti-diabetic agents
in the management of diabetes even among type 2 diabetic. Objective:
There was need to assess insulin adherence, mode of insulin delivery
and burden of insulin usage among diabetics. Methods: A
cross-sectional, prospective questionnaire, orally administered at a
Diabetes Clinic of a University Teaching Hospital, SouthWest, Nigeria.
Participants were consecutive patients with diabetes who were 18 years
or older presently on insulin either alone or in combination with other
anti-diabetic agents for at least 3 months. Baseline demographic and
insulin treatment information were obtained. Results: Two hundred and
thirteen (213) participants were studied. Of these, 21 (9.9%) had T1DM
and 192 (90.1%) had T2DM, (means age, 58.6 \ub1 13.1 years, mean
duration of diabetes, 7.0 \ub1 6.9 years). Insulin adherence was
noted in 72.8% with better adherence among those who self-injected
insulin compared to those who were injected by health care
professionals (HCPs) or relations. Among the respondents, 80.8% were on
human insulin and pre-mixed insulin was the most commonly used form of
insulin (52.6%). Most participants (52.6%) were taking 10-20 units per
day, only 22 (10.3%) were on >40units/day. Reuse of insulin needle
was found in 74.6% of the participants. Major reasons for insulin
omission were non-availability of insulin and patients being tired of
insulin injection. Conclusion: The insulin adherence among diabetics in
this study was high. Non-availability of insulin, insulin injection
pain and being tired of continual insulin usage were some of the
reasons for non-adherent to insulin usage