Education, lack of English proficiency among leading predictors for poor follow-up in glaucoma cases

BOSTON — Education plays a key role in glaucoma follow-up, with lack of English fluency, low education level and inadequate education about the disease leading factors in glaucoma patients not attending follow-up visits, a study of a county hospital patient population found.

Kuldev Singh, MD, MPH, and colleagues presented the poster study at the World Glaucoma Congress here. The retrospective, case-control study looked at 152 glaucoma patients attending follow-up visits at the San Francisco General Hospital. The study authors administered an oral questionnaire to patients.

They found that leading risk predictors for poor patient follow-up were lack of English fluency (adjusted odds ratio 5.63), black race (adjusted odds ratio 4.06), low education level (adjusted odds ratio 3.49), severe glaucoma (adjusted odds ratio 4.21) and lack of education about the disease from health care staff (adjusted odds ratio 2.05).

"The study suggests that non-English-speaking patients, as well as African-Americans (who are generally English-speaking), those with severe glaucoma and/or those with a low educational background may benefit from specialized counseling to improve follow-up and thus reduce disparities in disease outcomes," Dr. Singh and colleagues said.