Percepción Hacia la Insulinoterapia en Pacientes con Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2: Estudio Transversal en Población Mexicana

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Objective: To determine the perception of insulin therapy use in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) at the General Hospital Zone with Family Medicine No. 2, Apizaco, Tlaxcala. Methods: Observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study. Population: 305 patients aged 40–65 years with T2DM, selected by consecutive non-probability sampling (January–December 2025). Main variable: insulin therapy perception assessed with the Insulin Treatment Appraisal Scale (ITAS; 20 Likert-type items, Cronbach's α=0.89; positive perception: 20–59 points; negative: ≥60). Statistical analysis: chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman correlation, and multivariate binary logistic regression (SPSS 26). Results: Negative perception predominated in 54.1% (n=165). Patients with positive perception had longer disease duration (median 8 vs. 6 years; p=0.013). A significant association was found between treatment type and perception (p<0.001): negative perception was most frequent among patients treated exclusively with oral hypoglycemic agents (68.5%). In the multivariate model, insulin use was associated with higher odds of positive perception (OR 5.93; 95%CI 3.19–11.00; p<0.01). Conclusion: Negative perception toward insulin therapy is prevalent and represents a significant barrier to treatment adherence. Treatment type was the only independent predictor of favorable perception, suggesting that fears are anticipatory and diminish with direct experience with insulin.