Influence of certain factors on adherence to treatment in glaucoma patients in clinical practice

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Up to 80% of patients do not comply with the treatment regimen, and this leads to the progression of the disease.
 AIM: The aim of this study is the analysis of adherence to treatment based on a questionnaire survey of glaucoma patients.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: 139 patients with glaucoma were questioned. The mean age was 67.19 0.84 years, 63.3% were women, 36.7% were men. 73.4% were city residents, 26.6% village residents. 26% were diagnosed less than a year before, 34.5% 15 years before, 39.5% 5 years or more before. 47.5% received only medical therapy, the rest had a history of surgery as well. Statistical processing of the obtained results was carried out using the standard statistical analysis software package SPSS Statistics 16.0. The parameters with a normal distribution were presented as M m, where M is the mean value, m is the standard error of the mean.
 RESULTS: On average, patients received 2.1 0.08 molecules in 1.64 0.06 vials. 48% of patients did not observe the frequency of visits to the ophthalmologist. Violation of adherence was present in 40.5% of cases, the main reason was forgetfulness (51%), 24.5% did not buy the medication on time, discomfort on instillation was reported in 7% of cases, systemic side effects in 3.5%, other reasons in 14%. Adherence does not depend on the duration of glaucoma, the number of vials, the place of residence. Contraindications to the prescription of -blockers were present in 30% of cases.
 CONCLUSIONS: The study has confirmed that nearly half of patients are non-adherent to treatment due to forgetfulness.