Why diabetes patients skip their pills: motivation matters more than

A cross-sectional study across three public provincial hospitals in Vietnam has focused on why people with diabetes don’t stick to prescribed medication—an issue researchers say remains a major barrier to control of the disease. The paper notes global prevalence is rising to more than one in 10 adults, with projections of over 1.31 billion cases by 2050. In developed countries, nonadherence to chronic-disease meds often ranges from 30% to 50%, and Vietnam-specific studies have reported 23.9% in Hanoi and 31.9% in Hue. Conducted between January and March 2026, the study surveyed 644 adults aged 18+ using at least one antidiabetic drug, using the Vietnamese IMAB-Q questionnaire and the Brief Adherence Rating Scale.