Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Mar 1;30(3):e40-e46.
doi: 10.1097/IJG.0000000000001731.

Use of Telepresence Robots in Glaucoma Patient Education

Ashley Ooms  1 , Ibraheem Shaikh  1 , Nishant Patel  1 , Thomas Kardashian-Sieger  1 , Nivetha Srinivasan  1 , Benjamin Zhou  1 , Logan Wilson  2 , Bernard Szirth  1 , Albert S Khouri  1
Affiliations

Use of Telepresence Robots in Glaucoma Patient Education

Ashley Ooms et al. J Glaucoma. .

Abstract

Prcis: Telepresence robots (TR) present the versatility to effectively provide remote educational sessions for patients affected by glaucoma to improve disease knowledge. Given COVID-19's effect on clinical practice, TR can maintain social distancing when educating patients.

Purpose: TR are devices that allow remote users to have a mobile presence anywhere. We compared the effect of an education session given by an in-person educator versus a TR on glaucoma knowledge and identified factors that impact patient education.

Methods: Eighty-five glaucoma patients were split into control, human, and TR groups. We measured glaucoma knowledge scores (KS) using the National Eye Institute's Eye-Q Test. Human and TR groups had the education session with a human or TR followed by the questionnaire. The control group was administered the questionnaire without an education session. Treatment regimen recall (RR) >90% was considered a success. We used linear regression and binary logistic regression to determine variables that affect KS and RR, respectively.

Results: Mean age was 58.3±2.8 years. 49% were female. Mean KS were 5.8±0.7 in the control group (n=31), 7.9±0.5 in the TR group (n=26), and 8.4±0.5 in the human group (n=28). Control participants had a lower mean KS than the human or TR groups (P<0.001). Having the education session (2.5, P<0.001), education greater than high school (0.8, P=0.016), and diabetes (-0.7, P=0.037) affected KS. Having diabetes (odds ratio=0.14, P=0.014) negatively affected RR. Having the education session may affect RR (odds ratio=5.47, P=0.07), warranting additional studies.

Conclusions: Education sessions with a human and TR improved patients' glaucoma KS. TRs may serve as an alternative to in-person education sessions and allow educators to safely and effectively educate patients remotely to adhere to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: A.S.K.: Grant support: Allergan, Optovue, NJ Health Foundation. Consultant: Glaukos. Speaker Bureau: Allergan, Aerie, Bausch & Lomb. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Rossi GCM, Pasinetti GM, Scudeller L, et al. Do adherence rates and glaucomatous visual field progression correlate? Eur J Ophthalmol. 2011;21:410–414.
    1. Sleath B, Blalock S, Covert D, et al. The relationship between glaucoma medication adherence, eye drop technique, and visual field defect severity. Ophthalmology. 2011;118:2398–2402.
    1. The Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS): 7. The relationship between control of intraocular pressure and visual field deterioration.The AGIS Investigators. Am J Ophthalmol. 2000;130:429–440.
    1. Lichter PR, Musch DC, Gillepsie BW, et al. Interim clinical outcomes in the Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study comparing initial treatment randomized to medications or surgery. Ophthalmology. 2001;108:1943–1953.
    1. Olthoff CMG, Schouten JSAG, van de Borne BW, et al. Noncompliance with ocular hypotensive treatment in patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension: an evidence-based review. Ophthalmology. 2005;112:953.e7–961.e7.