Diabetes is a condition in which the body does not make or cannot properly use the glucose-regulating hormone insulin. If not controlled, the disease can lead to serious problems including blindness, amputation, kidney failure and heart disease.

Researchers analyzed the health insurance claims of more than 137,000 patients under age 65 who had one or more of the following conditions: diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or congestive heart failure. The analysis revealed that compliance with their physician's treatment plan made the greatest difference with diabetic individuals. Among the findings:

• Diabetes patients who were highly compliant with their drug therapy had a 13 percent risk of hospitalization for a diabetic complication.

• Noncompliant diabetes patients had a 30 percent risk of hospitalization.

• The healthcare costs of noncompliant diabetes patients were almost double those of the most compliant diabetes patients.

• Every dollar spent on diabetic medications saved $7 in healthcare costs.

Medication noncompliance with chronic conditions such as diabetes averages 35 to 50 percent and costs Americans as much as $300 billion a year, the researchers reported.

"This research hammers home the dangers and expense of not following a treatment regimen. Increased medication compliance for chronic conditions can significantly cut medical costs and keep patients out of the hospital," co-author Dr. Robert S. Epstein stated in a news release issued by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages drug insurance programs and sponsored the study.

The study was published in the June issue of a peer-reviewed journal of the American Public Health Association.

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