Abstract
Purpose :
The purpose of the study is to determine the patient knowledge rate of potential ocular toxicity from systemic medications, specifically hydroxychloroquine, amiodarone and ethambutol. Secondarily, the study aims to determine if there are certain patient characteristics or prescribing provider types that may impact that knowledge rate.
Methods :
A cross-sectional survey was carried out among 37 patients presenting to the Nashville Veterans Affairs Medical Center Eye Clinic between November 2020 and January 2021 using a questionnaire. Patients taking amiodarone, ethambutol, or hydroxychloroquine were asked if they could identify what medication they were taking, if they knew it could cause eye toxicity, and if they recall receiving education from the prescriber. Data were summarized with descriptive statistics while Fisher’s exact test was used for categorical variables at p < 0.05.
Results :
Among 37 patients surveyed to date, 73% knew why they were having an eye exam that day, 78% correctly identified the medication they were taking, and 46% were aware of the medication’s potential ocular toxicity. Age over 70 years was significantly associated with not knowing their medication could cause ocular toxicity (p=0.007), while correctly identifying which medication they were on failed to show a statistical significance (p=0.44). Greater knowledge of medication toxicity among patients with trainee prescribers (defined as resident physicians or fellows) was found to be statistically significant compared to nurse practitioners (p=0.01) and non-trainee physicians (p=0.04). Among all groups, no comparisons showed statistical significance in correctly identifying the medication they were taking.
Conclusions :
Our results suggest that there are significant differences in knowledge of medication ocular toxicity in a Veterans Affairs patient population depending on patient age and prescribing provider. Non-elderly patients and those prescribed their medication by a trainee were more likely to know that their medication could cause ocular toxicity. This study is limited by its small sample size.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.