Abstract
Purpose:
Non Compliance with treatment and ignorance of Glaucoma disease is major cause of blindnes.This can be solved by improving patient-doctor relation.We performed a retrospective,descriptive-analytic study to learn the knowledge of our patients, through an anonymous question survey,allowing patients to make written comments
Methods:
Survey was carried out in a monthly glaucoma workshop for a year supporting consultation in our Ophthalmology Service. We evaluated the answers of 84 patients (mean age:68;76%women,24%men) under Glaucoma treatment
Results:
20 questions.15 were directly related to the patient-doctor relation.1st example of this problem in communication is that 25%of the treated patients did not know what glaucoma was. 91%had had their IOP controlled less than 2 years earlier As for glaucoma treatment, 7% didnot know how it was treated while 43%knew that it was treated with eye drops,40%with laser, surgery and drops,5%with laser and drops and 5%with surgery and drops SD0.2. 82%knew that it was a lifetime disease,11%did not know it and 7%believed that it lasted a few years SD 0.42. When they were asked if Glaucoma could be transmitted from parents to children 43%gave a negative answer.When asked how often they should go to the ophthalmologist for a check-up, 39%answered once every 3months,25%answered once a year,15%once a month, 4%didnot know and 1% just when they needed to have their glasses adjusted.When asked if the medical treatment had to be suspended, 18% answered they didnot know, 25% thought that it was a decision of the doctor and 56%responded that the treatment never stopped. Concerning how frequently a healthy person should have an IOP examination, 79% answered once a year. When requested the options to help them to fulfil the doctors' treatment, 38%coincided that it was important to schedule their medication and to follow their doctor's advice.19% of the respondents told it was important more frequent medical controls, IOP and exhaustive examinations
Conclusions:
Doctor-patient relationship is still the cornerstone in treatment of chronic diseases.We should consider having extratime in consultations and scheduling several consultations with the same patients until they have a deep and precise knowledge of their disease and its treatment. We suggest conducting informative workshops for patients