Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate the prevalence and use patterns of topical intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering medications among the U.S. population.
Methods :
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is an ongoing survey of a nationally representative weighted sample of the U.S. population, performed in 2-year cycles. We utilized the results from the years 1999-2014. Participants were asked whether they have taken any prescription medications in the past month, and if so, the specific types of medications were recorded. Participants age 40 years or older who responded to prescription medication questions were included. Responses were analyzed to determine the classes, number and frequency of use of IOP-lowering medications.
Results :
28,177 Americans over age 40 were surveyed between 1999-2014 of whom 579 reported using topical glaucoma medications during the previous month, representing a 1.6% prevalence of topical IOP-lowering medication use after weight adjustment. The proportion of Americans on topical IOP-lowering did not show a significant change over time (p=0.14) and was 1.38% ine 1999-2000 vs 1.43% in 2013-2014 survey cycles. The proportion of Americans using glaucoma drops significantly increased with age (from only 0.05% of Americans at age 40 to 6.5% at age 85 [p<0.001]). The majority of Americans on IOP-lowering agents are on only one (59.6%) or two (30.2%) topical IOP-lowering medications. After 2001, Prostaglandins became the most commonly used topical IOP-lowering agent with 84.4% of patients on at least one topical medications using a prostaglandin in the 2013-2014 cycle.
Conclusions :
Topical IOP-lowering medication use among Americans did not change significantly from 1999-2014. Older Americans use IOP-lowering medications significantly more frequently and over 6% of patients over age 80 years are on IOP-lowering medications. The majority of patients remain on a single agent with prostaglandin analogues being the most common treatment.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.