Compliance with Medical Treatment in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma (POAG) at the Centre for the Application of the Diploma of Specialized Studies in Ophthalmology (CADES/O)

Introduction: Primary open-angle glaucoma, a chronic, potentially blinding disease, requires lifelong medical treatment that demands full patient compliance. The objective was to determine the rate of compliance and to study the determinants of compliance in glaucoma patients followed at CADES/O. Patients and Methods: This was an observational study, which included old and new glaucoma patients. Compliance was assessed on the availability of medication, regularity of dosing schedules, compliance with prescribed doses, and regularity at check-ups. Compliance was judged to be good when at least four (4) of these criteria were met, fair when only three (3) of these criteria were met and poor when only two (2) of these criteria were met. Results: Compliance was considered good in 38.4% of cases, fair in 48.2% of cases and poor in 13.4% of cases with an overall compliance rate of 86.6%. The correlation was not statistically significant for age, sex, origin, length of illness, route of administration, instiller, or therapeutic regime. On the other hand, profession, level of education, presence of systemic arterial hypertension, compliance with instillation schedules, prescribed dosage, regularity of treatment, compliance with control visits and the climate of trust between patient and treating physician were the determining factors with the greatest statistical influence on compliance with treatment. Conclusion: Compliance with glaucoma treatment is linked to the patient factor but especially to the doctor factor. Doctors should take their time to explain to patients their disease, its evolution with or without treatment and above all the necessity of a good therapeutic compliance.