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Observational Study
. 2017 Jun;101(6):801-807.
doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2016-308505. Epub 2017 Mar 7.

Treatment patterns and medication adherence of patients with glaucoma in South Korea

Chan Yun Kim  1 , Ki Ho Park  2 , Jaehong Ahn  3 , Myung-Douk Ahn  4 , Soon Cheol Cha  5 , Ho Soong Kim  6 , Joon Mo Kim  7 , Moon Jung Kim  8 , Tae-Woo Kim  9 , Yong Yeon Kim  10 , Ji Woong Lee  11 , Sang-Woo Park  12 , Yong Ho Sohn  13 , Kyung Rim Sung  14 , Chungkwon Yoo  15 , Jinhye Cha  16 , Young-Joo Kim  16
Affiliations
Observational Study

Treatment patterns and medication adherence of patients with glaucoma in South Korea

Chan Yun Kim et al. Br J Ophthalmol. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Background/aims: This study aimed to investigate treatment patterns and medication adherence of glaucoma. It also identified key factors associated with non-adherence.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional, observational study. Patients who use eye-drops for ≤2 years were recruited at 15 eye clinics from March to November 2013. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires and medical chart review. Medication adherence was evaluated using patients' self-report on pill count and defined as patients' administering drug for ≥80% of prescribed days. Medication adherence rate was calculated by dividing actual number of administration from total prescribed number of administration for 7 days. Patients whose self-reported prescription was different from total daily doses of physicians' prescription were considered as non-adherent.

Results: A total of 1050 patients included, and medication adherence rate was evaluated in 1046 patients whose verification of adherence was available. Of the total, 27.4% were non-adherent, and the medication adherence rates of the total, the adherent, and the non-adherent were 90.6±17.8%, 96.8±5.5% and 56.6±24.7%, respectively. The most commonly used medication was prostaglandin (PGA) alone and the second was combination of two-class (β-blocker and carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (CAI)) and three-class combination of PGA, β-blocker and CAI followed. In multivariate analysis, the risk of non-adherence was 1.466 times greater in males than in females (95% CI 1.106 to 1.943) and 1.328-fold greater as the daily number of administration was increased (95% CI 1.186 to 1.487).

Conclusion: Approximately, one-third of the patients were non-adherent, and males and increased daily number of administration were associated with non-adherence. It highlights that more systematic treatment strategies should be considered for better medication adherence, leading to effective glaucoma management.

Keywords: Glaucoma; Treatment Medical.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Treatment patterns.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Top 3 prescribed glaucoma medication by patients' clinical characteristics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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