Purpose:
Noncompliance continues to be a major barrier to the effective medical management of glaucoma. Exacerbating the problem, studies have shown that ophthalmologists grossly underestimate the rate of noncompliance in their patients. The purpose of this study is to identify risk factors, including socioeconomic, psychological, and cultural, that may influence compliance in a county hospital setting.
Methods:
The study is a prospective, questionnaire-based study in patients with glaucoma or glaucoma suspects at a Dallas County hospital. A student t-test and ANOVA analysis were used to interpret the data.
Results:
The overall rate of noncompliance was 40%. 60% of Hispanics, 36% of blacks, and 20% of whites were deemed to be noncompliant. 52% of patients were deemed to be passive or not concerned about having glaucoma, of these patients 64% were Hispanic. 52% of patients had minimal to no understanding of their disease, and of these patients 62% were Hispanic.
Conclusions:
This study shows alarming noncompliance trends in a growing Hispanic population of glaucoma patients. Specifically, cultural and communication barriers with Hispanic patients must be addressed in order to reduce noncompliance in this demographic.
Clinical Trial:
University of Texas Southwestern Institutional Review Board, 012010-005
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: health care delivery/economics/manpower • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: outcomes/complications