Abstract
Purpose :
Glaucoma is a lifelong disease that requires treatment adherence and active patient engagement. Poor patient adherence is associated with lower levels of understanding of the disease. However, little is known about the relationship between patient glaucoma knowledge and level of glaucoma severity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a correlation between glaucoma knowledge scores and disease severity among veterans with glaucoma who had poor adherence enrolled in a randomized controlled trial.
Methods :
Patients treated for glaucoma who had poor adherence at the Durham Veterans Affairs Eye Clinic were recruited to participate in the medication adherence in glaucoma to improve care (MAGIC) study, which measured adherence following an educational intervention (NCT03052257). As part of that study, participants completed a glaucoma knowledge assessment using the 10-question Eye-Q glaucoma knowledge test. Glaucoma severity was assessed using visual field criteria. Demographics and clinical history were recorded. Comparisons were made between glaucoma severity levels, categorized as mild, moderate, severe, and indeterminate. Continuous variables were compared using analysis of variance and categorical characteristics using the chi-square statistic; alpha was 0.05.
Results :
Two hundred participants were included with a mean age of 68±8 years and representation across all glaucoma severity categories (53 mild, 56 moderate, 74 severe, and 17 indeterminant). The majority (57%) reported a glaucoma duration of 5 years or more. The mean Eye-Q score was poor across all categories and did not differ based on severity (6.0±1.6, 6.2±1.5, 6.3±1.8, and 5.9±1.9 for mild, moderate, severe, and indeterminate visual field severity, respectively; p=0.779).
Conclusions :
Glaucoma knowledge did not differ across disease severity categories in this population of glaucoma patients with poor adherence. Glaucoma knowledge was generally poor, supporting the need for interventions to educate glaucoma patients about their disease.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.