Abstract
Purpose :
Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is a chronic condition that requires long-term monitoring and frequent clinic visits. Fostering positive patient experiences and patient compliance is crucial in the management of this disease. However, despite this, there have been few large-scale studies that have investigated glaucoma patients’ satisfaction with their healthcare. Therefore, the purpose of this present study is to investigate whether the severity of the patient’s condition may affect their satisfaction and overall experience with healthcare.
Methods :
A retrospective review was performed from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) database of patients who had a glaucoma ICD diagnosis, from 2017 to 2021. Patients were asked to complete a 13-question survey on patient satisfaction. Duplicate records for patient responses were removed. Survey responses were aggregated and separated based on level of severity of their glaucoma condition (ocular hypertension, mild POAG, moderate POAG, and severe POAG) and by eye affected (both eyes, left eye, right eye). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests and multivariate ordinal and logistic regression models were performed to determine statistical differences in survey responses.
Results :
A total of 1,450 patients (303 ocular hypertension, 501 mild, 443 moderate, 203 severe) were analyzed. We found a negative association in patient-reported ease of access to the doctors and their severity of disease (p < 0.05). There was also an association with increased worry about their health as compared to others among patients with more severe glaucoma (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that patients with severe POAG, income below the federal poverty level, non-White race, and those from a rural setting were more likely to report decreased ease of access to the doctors. On average across all questions, patients were satisfied with their care.
Conclusions :
This study highlights glaucoma patient concerns and experiences. We found that greater severity of disease may be associated with greater difficulty in patient-reported access to care. Further research is warranted to better understand patients’ concerns and the role of overall patient experience on adherence to care.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.