More than one in three people with type 2 diabetes fail to take their medication, according to new research.

The research by Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) has revealed the potential for huge cost savings by getting people with type 2 diabetes to stick to their recommended treatments and also the need for clearer guidance from prescribers.

The study published in the Diabetes Care journal revealed that 37.8 per cent of patients do not take their medication as prescribed by their healthcare professional potentially down to poor support and a lack of explanations about side effects, contributing to an increase in medical problems and higher costs to the NHS.

Data taken from a study of 318,125 records has discovered that people who stick to their prescribed treatments have a 10 per cent lower risk of hospital visits and are 28 per cent less likely to die than people who fail to take their medication.

Co-Director of the LDC, Professor Kamlesh Khunti, Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester who led the study, said: “Despite consistent improvements in the quality of care for diabetes in recent decades, it remains a constant challenge when it comes to premature death.

“It is plausible that efforts to improve adherence may prevent unplanned hospital visits and help to divert resources toward preventive medicine, which should be the cornerstone of any successful public health policy in diabetes.”

People with type 2 diabetes can expect to take over five different medications every day and the study concluded it was “vital” that health care professionals can recognise and treat patients who do not stick to their suggested routines.

Despite limited success in preventing of delaying complications of Type 2 diabetes in high-income countries, the rapid escalation in numbers of people affected remains of great concern to health bodies.

Professor Khunti added: “Our findings should serve to reinforce to patients the importance of taking medications as prescribed, in order to avoid premature death and preventable admissions to hospital. This could lead to savings not only in terms of medications being prescribed and not used but also reduced hospital admissions and death.”

Co-Director of LDC, Professor Melanie Davies CBE, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester, and co-author of the paper, commented: “High-quality studies examining the effectiveness of interventions to improve adherence in chronic disease are needed to guide international efforts to curb the effects of the diabetes epidemic.

“It is important to help people to understand how their drugs work and why they should take them as this may increase the likelihood of people taking their medication regularly.”