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Patient adherence to brimonidine therapy low, study shows
J Glaucoma. 2011;20(8):502-508.
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Individual adherence to brimonidine topical treatment among a majority of patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension was pharmacologically insufficient and highly variable, a study found.
The prospective, observational cohort study included 75 patients randomly assigned to receive brimonidine twice or three times daily for 4 weeks; all patients received conventional brimonidine eye drops with attached electronic monitoring devices.
The researchers found that 97% of patients allowed at least one dosing interval to exceed 24 hours.
Mean medication coverage was 70% for the twice-daily group and 67% for the three-times-daily group, but dosing frequency was better in the latter group (P < .001). Lower coverage rates were found among patients with normal-tension glaucoma than patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension (P < .05).
On average, 20% of medication was wasted due to patients using more than one drop per dosing.
"Our findings underline the need to improve individual adherence and drug delivery in topical glaucoma therapy," the study authors said.