Adherence To Drop Treatment in Glaucoma Patients and Its Relationship With Progression

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the adherence of glaucoma patients to eye drop therapy and determine the effects of treatment adherence on disease progression. Materials and Methods: A total of 147 patients followed at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Department of Ophthalmology, between March 2019 and June 2019 were included in the study. Patients were examined and asked questions. Patients underwent peripapillary retinal nerve fi ber layer analysis via optical coherence tomography. Results: It was found that 66% of the patients adhered to eye drop treatment. The most common reasons for non-adherence were forgetting (40%) and running out of eye drop (38%). Correct instillation technique was demonstrated by 59% of the patients. There was signifi cantly less disease progression in adherent patients compared to non-adherent patients (p=0.002) and in patients with correct instillation technique compared to those without (p=0.001). Conclusion: This study showed adherence to eye drop therapy was 66% among glaucoma patients and 59% of patients showed correct drop instillation technique. More progression was observed in patients with poor adherence and patients who did not instill drops correctly.