Table 1.
Characteristics of the study participants— medication adherence study, Anuradhapura 2017
| Items | Fee-paying group—SPC (n = 50) | THA (n = 50) | BHT (n = 50) | DHK (n = 50) | Universal-free group (n = 150) | p value* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic data | ||||||
| Median age (IQR) | 59 (52–65) | 59 (54–65) | 60 (49–67) | 60 (54–67) | 60 (52–66) | 0.73# |
| Years residing at Anuradhapura (IQR) | 47 (35–58) | 57 (47–63) | 40 (28–57) | 56 (40–62) | 52 (36–61) | 0.17# |
| Median monthly salary (rupees) (IQR) | 30,000 (23,684–40,250) | 15,000 (9750–25,000) | 8000 (3000–15,000) | 10,000 (2000–25,000) | 15,000 (5000–25,000) | < 0.01# |
| Data related to co-morbidities | ||||||
| Median duration of T2DM (months) (IQR) | 66 (33–135) | 60 (23–147) | 72 (33–120) | 72 (36–135) | 60 (36–120) | 0.56# |
| Percentage with any level of visual Impairment (%) | 54 | 50 | 58 | 68 | 59 | 0.56$ |
| Percentage with hyperlipidemia (%) | 42 | 58 | 44 | 36 | 46 | 0.62$ |
| Percentage with hypertension (%) | 42 | 56 | 52 | 58 | 55 | 0.10$ |
SPC State Pharmaceutical Corporation, THA Teaching Hospital Anuradhapura, BHT Base Hospital Thambuttegama, DHK Divisional Hospital Kekirawa, T2DM type 2 diabetes mellitus, IQR interquartile range
*p value was calculated for the fee-paying group against the universal-free group (THA, BHT, DHK combined)
#Mann-Whitney U test was performed
$Chi-square test was performed