Patient-reported barriers to glaucoma medication access, use, and adherence in southern India

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to (a) describe the different types of problems that patients in southern India reported having when taking their glaucoma medications and (b) examine the relationship between patient reported-problems in taking their glaucoma medications and the self-reported patient adherence. A survey was conducted by clinical staff on 243 glaucoma patients who were on at least one glaucoma medication in an eye clinic in southern India. We found that 42% of patients reported one or more problems in using their glaucoma medications. Approximately 6% of patients reported being less than 100% adherent in the past week. Unmarried patients and patients who reported difficulty squeezing the bottle and difficulty opening the bottle were significantly more likely to report nonadherence.

Keywords

• Access
• adherence
• barriers
• glaucoma
• medication
• problems
• southern India