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. 2017 May 18;10(5):742-748.
doi: 10.18240/ijo.2017.05.14. eCollection 2017.

Quality of life in glaucoma patients after selective laser trabeculoplasty

Myrjam De Keyser  1 , Maya De Belder  2 , Veva De Groot  1   3
Affiliations

Quality of life in glaucoma patients after selective laser trabeculoplasty

Myrjam De Keyser et al. Int J Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Aim: To compare quality of life and treatment satisfaction between patients who had selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) and those on medication.

Methods: A prospective clinical trial on 143 glaucoma patients that received SLT and a control group that continued using anti glaucoma medication was conducted. Tear break-up time (BUT), punctuate keratitis, need for help, use of artificial tears and the treatment satisfaction survey of intraocular pressure (IOP) were measured at baseline, 6 and 12mo.

Results: SLT was able to reduce the mean number of medications needed from 1.56±0.81 to 0.42±0.66 at six months and to 0.33±0.69 at one year. Punctuate keratitis was observed significantly less often (12.24%) after SLT than before (35.94%; P=0.03). Use of artificial tears and BUT did not change significantly after SLT (P>0.05). At baseline, patients in the SLT group were significantly less convinced of medication effectiveness (P=0.006) and complained more about side effects (P=0.003). After SLT, these patients had significantly more confidence in their therapy (P<0.001), showed less side effects (P=0.006), complained less about changes in appearance of the eyes (P=0.003) and were less inconvenienced by the use of eye drops (P<0.001).

Conclusion: SLT is able to improve treatment-related quality of life in glaucoma patients.

Keywords: glaucoma; laser treatment; medical treatment; quality of life.

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