TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers to Glaucoma Medication Compliance among Veterans
T2 - Dry Eye Symptoms and Anxiety Disorders
AU - Stringham, Jack
AU - Ashkenazy, Noy
AU - Galor, Anat
AU - Wellik, Sarah R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Clinical Sciences Research, and Development’s Career Development Award CDA-2-024-10S (A.G.), NIH Center Core Grant P30EY014801, Research to Prevent Blindness Unrestricted Grant, Department of Defense (DOD—Grant No.: W81XWH-09-1-0675 and Grant No.:W81XWH-13-1-0048 ONOVA) (institutional). NIH Center Core Grant P30EY014801, RPB Unrestricted Award and Career Development Awards, Department of Defense (DOD—Grant No.: W81XWH-09-1-0675) The Ronald and Alicia Lepke Grant, The Lee and Claire Hager Grant, The Jimmy and Gaye Bryan Grant, The Gordon Charitable Foundation and the Richard Azar Family Grant (institutional grants).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright @ Contact Lens Association of Opthalmologists, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Objective: To identify barriers to compliance of medical treatment for glaucoma among veterans. Methods: Patients with glaucoma from the Miami Veterans Affairs Eye Clinic (n 74) filled out a 63-question survey regarding dry eye symptoms, concurrent systemic disease, and medications. The association between glaucoma medical compliance was defined as self-reported adherence to drop regimens greater than 75% of the time. Results: Eighty percent of veterans (n 59) reported compliance with glaucoma therapy. Dry eye symptoms (as defined by Dry Eye Questionnaire 5 score $6) were reported by 39% (n 29), and their presence was associated with decreased compliance (63% vs. 89%, P 0.007). Anxiety and posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) were also associated with significant noncompliance (64% vs. 83%, P 0.05 and 58% vs. 84%, P 0.02, respectively). Other studied factors including demographics, depression (P 0.11), and glaucoma regimens did not play a significant role in glaucoma medication compliance. Conclusions: Dry eye symptoms, PTSD, and anxiety were associated with decreased compliance to medical treatment of glaucoma. Identifying and treating underlying ocular surface disease and anxiety disorders may lead to increased adherence to glaucoma treatment.
AB - Objective: To identify barriers to compliance of medical treatment for glaucoma among veterans. Methods: Patients with glaucoma from the Miami Veterans Affairs Eye Clinic (n 74) filled out a 63-question survey regarding dry eye symptoms, concurrent systemic disease, and medications. The association between glaucoma medical compliance was defined as self-reported adherence to drop regimens greater than 75% of the time. Results: Eighty percent of veterans (n 59) reported compliance with glaucoma therapy. Dry eye symptoms (as defined by Dry Eye Questionnaire 5 score $6) were reported by 39% (n 29), and their presence was associated with decreased compliance (63% vs. 89%, P 0.007). Anxiety and posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) were also associated with significant noncompliance (64% vs. 83%, P 0.05 and 58% vs. 84%, P 0.02, respectively). Other studied factors including demographics, depression (P 0.11), and glaucoma regimens did not play a significant role in glaucoma medication compliance. Conclusions: Dry eye symptoms, PTSD, and anxiety were associated with decreased compliance to medical treatment of glaucoma. Identifying and treating underlying ocular surface disease and anxiety disorders may lead to increased adherence to glaucoma treatment.
KW - Dry eye-glaucoma treatment compliance
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U2 - 10.1097/ICL.0000000000000301
DO - 10.1097/ICL.0000000000000301
M3 - Article
C2 - 28181960
AN - SCOPUS:85040136408
SN - 1542-2321
VL - 44
SP - 50
EP - 54
JO - Eye and Contact Lens
JF - Eye and Contact Lens
IS - 1
ER -