Abstract
Purpose :
To determine whether digital media effectively communicates methods of interventional care for at-risk glaucoma patients (e.g., selective laser trabeculoplasty), measured by patient comprehension and treatment adherence.
Methods :
The research was conducted at EyeCare Consultants of New Jersey’s two locations, in Woodland Park (WP) and Edison (E), New Jersey. Two ophthalmologists surveyed 100 at-risk, primarily English-speaking glaucoma patients that were separated into two groups: one group (50 patients) was verbally informed before giving consent about the use of SLT to help treat their glaucoma, while the other group (50 patients) was digitally educated through the CheckedUp platform. The latter group learned about the use of SLT, its point of impact, anatomy of the trabecular meshwork, and post-treatment care before subsequently consenting in the traditional fashion.
Results :
The results of the physicians’ questioning during the follow-up visits of all patients showed that 60% of verbal-instruction-on-SLT patients and 94% of digitally-educated-on-SLT patients reported improved comprehension of glaucoma and its treatment. Three months after SLT, when the same patients were asked to recall information about the importance of glaucoma and the role of why they had SLT, only 50% of the verbal-instruction-on-SLT patients remembered why they had SLT and its importance in glaucoma management. This is different compared to those that were digitally-educated-on-SLT where 90% of patients could remember why they had SLT and its importance in glaucoma management.
Conclusions :
Considering that 85% of patients in the group that received CheckedUp’s digital-education-on SLT showed a deep understanding of their glaucoma and the need for SLT compared to 30% for the control group, it was concluded that digital media can be an effective tool for improving patient education in long-term disease conditions such as glaucoma. Moreover, the doctors’ observations indicate that patient education is strongly correlated to compliance, suggesting that digital media may play a role in improving overall patient outcomes and disease progression in glaucoma. It should be noted, however, that all subjects in this study were native or primarily English speaking and all modules were in English, so there is still work to be done before these methods can be applied to a broader, more inclusive patient population.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.