Objective. The objectives of the study were to (a) describe various factors potentially related to objectively measured adherence to glaucoma medications and self-reported glaucoma medication adherence self-efficacy and (b) examine the relationship between patient race, the number of patient reported-problems, and adherence in taking their glaucoma medication. This was a cross-sectional study conducted at two glaucoma subspecialist referral ophthalmology practices. Methods. We measured subjects' reported problems in using glaucoma medications, adherence to glaucoma medications utilizing the Medication Events Monitoring System (MEMS) devices, and general glaucoma medication adherence self-efficacy using a previously validated 10-item scale. Multivariable logistic and linear regression was used to analyze the data. Results. Seventy-one percent of patients self-reported at least one problem in using their glaucoma medications. White patients were more than 3 times more likely to be 80% adherent in using their glaucoma medications than non-White patients. Patients who had glaucoma longer reported significantly higher glaucoma medication adherence self-efficacy. Patients who reported more problems in using their medications had significantly lower glaucoma medication adherence self-efficacy. Conclusions. Eye care providers should assess patient reported problems and glaucoma medication adherence self-efficacy and work with patients to find ways to reduce the number of problems that patients experience to increase their self-efficacy in using glaucoma medications. 1. Introduction Between 9% and 12% of all blindness in the Unites States is attributed to glaucoma [1]. Proper use of glaucoma medications can lower intraocular pressure and reduce the progression of glaucoma [2]. However, nonadherence to treatment regimens remains a significant problem [3, 4]. Approximately half of all subjects who are started on glaucoma medications will discontinue treatment within 6 months [5]. Few prior studies have examined the relationship between race and adherence to glaucoma medications and these studies had contradictory results [3, 6–10]. Both Patel and Spaeth and Sleath et al. [7, 9] found that African Americans were more likely to report missing doses of their glaucoma drops than Whites, and electronic monitoring revealed African American race as a risk factor for poor glaucoma medication adherence [6]. However, other studies using electronic monitors [10] and pharmacy report [8] found no association between race and adherence to glaucoma medications. Racial
References
[1]
H. A. Quigley and A. T. Broman, “The number of people with glaucoma worldwide in 2010 and 2020,” British Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 90, no. 3, pp. 262–267, 2006.
[2]
P. R. Lichter, D. C. Musch, B. W. Gillespie et al., “Interim clinical outcomes in the collaborative initial glaucoma treatment study comparing initial treatment randomized to medications or surgery,” Ophthalmology, vol. 108, no. 11, pp. 1943–1953, 2001.
[3]
B. Sleath, A. L. Robin, D. Covert, J. E. Byrd, G. Tudor, and B. Svarstad, “Patient-reported behavior and problems in using glaucoma medications,” Ophthalmology, vol. 113, no. 3, pp. 431–436, 2006.
[4]
B. L. Nordstrom, D. S. Friedman, E. Mozaffari, H. A. Quigley, and A. M. Walker, “Persistence and adherence with topical glaucoma therapy,” American Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 140, no. 4, pp. 598.e1–598.e11, 2005.
[5]
G. F. Schwartz, R. Platt, G. Reardon, and M. A. Mychaskiw, “Accounting for restart rates in evaluating persistence with ocular hypotensives,” Ophthalmology, vol. 114, no. 4, pp. 648–652, 2007.
[6]
D. S. Friedman, C. O. Okeke, H. D. Jampel et al., “Risk factors for poor adherence to eyedrops in electronically monitored patients with glaucoma,” Ophthalmology, vol. 116, no. 6, pp. 1097–1105, 2009.
[7]
S. C. Patel and G. L. Spaeth, “Compliance in patients prescribed eyedrops for glaucoma,” Ophthalmic Surgery, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 233–236, 1995.
[8]
K. W. Muir, C. Santiago-Turla, S. S. Stinnett et al., “Health literacy and adherence to glaucoma therapy,” American Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 142, no. 2, pp. 223–226, 2006.
[9]
B. Sleath, R. Ballinger, D. Covert, A. L. Robin, J. E. Byrd, and G. Tudor, “Self-reported prevalence and factors associated with nonadherence with glaucoma medications in veteran outpatients,” American Journal Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 67–73, 2009.
[10]
B. Sleath, S. J. Blalock, J. L. Stone et al., “Validation of a short version of the glaucoma medication self-efficacy questionnaire,” British Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 96, no. 2, pp. 258–262, 2012.
[11]
C. A. Melfi, T. W. Croghan, M. P. Hanna, and R. L. Robinson, “Racial variation in antidepressant treatment in a Medicaid population,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, vol. 61, no. 1, pp. 16–21, 2000.
[12]
J. A. Krishnan, G. B. Diette, E. A. Skinner, B. D. Clark, D. Steinwachs, and A. W. Wu, “Race and sex differences in consistency of care with National Asthma Guidelines in managed care organizations,” Archives of Internal Medicine, vol. 161, no. 13, pp. 1660–1668, 2001.
[13]
M. Monane, R. L. Bohn, J. H. Gurwitz, R. J. Glynn, R. Levin, and J. Avorn, “Compliance with antihypertensive therapy among elderly medicaid enrollees: the roles of age, gender, and race,” American Journal of Public Health, vol. 86, no. 12, pp. 1805–1808, 1996.
[14]
N. Congdon, “Causes and prevalence of visual impairment among adults in the United States,” Archives of Ophthalmology, vol. 122, no. 4, pp. 477–485, 2004.
[15]
C. O. Okeke, H. A. Quigley, H. D. Jampel et al., “Adherence with topical glaucoma medication monitored electronically. The travatan dosing aid study,” Ophthalmology, vol. 116, no. 2, pp. 191–199, 2009.
[16]
A. L. Robin, G. D. Novack, D. W. Covert, R. S. Crockett, and T. S. Marcic, “Adherence in glaucoma: objective measurements of once-daily and adjunctive medication use,” American Journal of Ophthalmology, vol. 144, no. 4, pp. 533–540, 2007.
[17]
L. Osterberg and T. Blaschke, “Adherence to medication,” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 353, no. 5, pp. 487–497, 2005.
[18]
B. Sleath, S. Blalock, D. Covert et al., “The relationship between glaucoma medication adherence, eye drop technique, and visual field defect severity,” Ophthalmology, vol. 118, no. 12, pp. 2398–2402, 2011.
[19]
B. Sleath, S. J. Blalock, A. Robin et al., “Development of an instrument to measure glaucoma medication self-efficacy and outcome expectations,” Eye, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 624–631, 2010.
[20]
D. L. Roter, J. A. Hall, R. Merisca, B. Nordstrom, D. Cretin, and B. Svarstad, “Effectiveness of interventions to improve patient cmpliance a meta-analysis,” Medical Care, vol. 36, no. 8, pp. 1138–1161, 1998.
[21]
R. B. Haynes, H. P. McDonald, and A. X. Garg, “Helping patients follow prescribed treatment: clinical applications,” Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 288, no. 22, pp. 2880–2883, 2002.