A patient survey of compliance with eye drop medication in glaucoma
Rohit Sharma, Ka Yan Melissa Chiu and Kamala Vijayalakshmi
Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, England
: Int J Ophthalmic Pathol
Abstract
It is well-recognized that effective management of glaucoma is hugely influenced by patient compliance with their eye drop medication. Here we present a study involving patient surveys investigating non-compliance rates with glaucoma drops and associated factors at a district general hospital. Nearly 25% of our cohort was not fully compliant with their glaucoma drops; this ranged from missing less than 1 dose per week to missing a dose almost daily. The most common reasons given for noncompliance were forgetfulness and difficulty in administering drops. Male gender, moderate to hard difficulty in using drops, and having side effects from drops were also associated with higher rates of non-compliance. Notably, less than 50% of those patients who did not find it easy to instill drops have actually told healthcare staff about this, and more than 90% were not aware assistive devices were available to help them with this problem; these findings suggest that raising patient awareness and use of these devices may potentially improve compliance. Another interesting finding of our study was the association between having just 1 bottle of drops or once-a-day dosing with higher non-compliance rates compared to having multiple bottles or doses per day; this is in contrast with findings from previous studies (Chawla et al, 2007; Castro & Mesquita, 2009), suggesting that reducing the number of bottles or dosing frequency may not actually have a positive impact on compliance. Furthermore, we discuss other possible methods of helping glaucoma patients improve their compliance with eye drops.
Biography
Rohit Sharma a consultant Ophthalmic surgeon working in NHS England. Received Clinical Excellence Awards from the NHS trust for his contributions & received Fight For Sight Award by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists London. Examiner for the FRCS Exams for the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh Represents Royal College of Ophthalmologists London for conducting Consultant interviews. Interviewer for University Medical School & doctor recruitment in the NHS. Led "Listening in Action" work in the NHS UK, is a certified Quality Service Improvement & Redesign Practitioner, completed "True Leader" workshops & is a certified Risk Assessor. Investigation officer for significant adverse events & is on the teams for service improvement & business planning.
