Abstract
Purpose :
Glaucoma medication plays a major role in the treatment of patients with glaucoma, leading to increase burden of cost both to individuals, and society. Our study aims to study the cost of glaucoma medications among patient with open angle glaucoma, and to stratify according to the severity of the glaucoma.
Methods :
Patients with open angle glaucoma who were diagnosed at least five years prior, were studied. The glaucoma medications given during the years of follow up were analysed and the cost burden of glaucoma medications were calculated base on the current cost. The patients were stratified according to severity of glaucoma base on the Brusini Glaucoma Staging System.
Results :
There were a total of 76 patients with open angle glaucoma studied. Based on the Bascom Palmer Glaucoma Staging System, there were 2 patients in severity stage 0, 12 patients in stage 1, 13 patients in stage 2, 11 patients in stage 3, 16 patients in stage 4 and 21 patients in stage 5. The cost of medication per annum per patient for each stage is as follows – Stage 0, S$0; Stage 1, S$81.39; Stage 2, S$246.37; Stage 3, S$354.33; Stage 4, S$289.28; Stage 5, S$312.98.
Conclusions :
The cost burden of glaucoma medication is high among the moderate to advance stages of glaucoma. Further analysis should be done on the cost of other procedural and surgical treatment of glaucoma, and to analyse the cost burden of medication versus non-medication treatment.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.