Patients prefer once-daily glaucoma drops

The relationship between complexity of eye drop regime and compliance is not straightforward, i.e. fewer drops may not mean better compliance. We investigated the level of inconvenience different eye drop regimes incurred in comparison with a once-daily (OD) regime for patients experienced with usin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology 2007-02, Vol.245 (2), p.293-294
Main Authors: Buller, Alex J, Morgan, Laurence H, Hercules, Brian L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antihypertensive Agents - administration & dosage
Drug Administration Schedule
Drug Delivery Systems
Glaucoma
Glaucoma - drug therapy
Humans
Ophthalmic Solutions - administration & dosage
Ophthalmology
Patient Compliance
Patient Satisfaction
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:The relationship between complexity of eye drop regime and compliance is not straightforward, i.e. fewer drops may not mean better compliance. We investigated the level of inconvenience different eye drop regimes incurred in comparison with a once-daily (OD) regime for patients experienced with using topical anti-glaucoma medication. Patients indicated the level of inconvenience from drop regimes of 1, 2, 3 or 4 times daily on 10-cm visual analogue scales. The score for the OD regime was then compared with the scores for the other regimes using paired t-tests with Bonferroni correction. At a significance limit of p = 0.05, five of six subgroups indicated once-a-day drops were significantly more convenient than other regimes. Patients who had used the OD regime considered this difference greater than those who had not. This study's results offer some pragmatic guidance on choice of therapy and on counselling patients about compliance. We would suggest starting patients on OD drops in preference to alternatives to promote compliance.
ISSN:0721-832X
1435-702X
DOI:10.1007/s00417-006-0333-3