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Relate to patients to improve compliance, clinician says

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Alan B. Robin, MD, said almost 25% of patients do not fill a glaucoma prescription.

NEW YORK — Relating to glaucoma patients can help improve compliance, according to one clinician.

“You have to find the most effective first-line therapy for them,” Alan B. Robin, MD, said at the Ocular Surgery News Symposium: Cataract, Glaucoma and Refractive Surgery.

Dr. Robin also recommended changing glaucoma medication as infrequently as possible and offering the least amount of medications as possible.

He cited some statistics from a study conducted from 1965 to 2001 in Olmsted County, Minn., in which 23% of 2,440 patients did not fill a prescription for any glaucoma medication over a 12-month period after the initiation of therapy. He added that the mean number of days without therapy during the study year was 112.

Dr. Robin said the data show that 22% of all Americans do not fill at least one prescription to save money. If patient income is less than $25,000 annually, the study showed that 40% did not fill at least one prescription, and 30% took a prescription less often than prescribed.