Adherence to topical glaucoma therapy in patients attending virtual clinics

Background/objectives Poor adherence to medical therapy is a major challenge to the effective treatment of chronic diseases including glaucoma. Potential factors influencing adherence include treatment complexity and patient understanding of disease and health beliefs. An increasing number of patients are seen in virtual clinics, where there is no face-to-face consultation, potentially reducing opportunities for patient education and reinforcement of the importance of treatment. The aim of this study was to examine adherence among patients attending a virtual glaucoma clinic. Methods 100 consecutive patients attending the virtual clinic were surveyed, with 78 using topical medications included in the analysis. All patients completed a validated adherence questionnaire with a score of >2 defined as poor adherence. The relationship between adherence and age, sex, duration since diagnosis, and disease severity was examined. Results The mean age was 73.1 ± 13.4 years, with an average mean deviation of −5.9 ± 5.5 dB and duration since first diagnosis of 9.0 ± 5.7 years. 93.6% reported self-instilling eye drops. Seventy-one patients (91.0 %) had good self-reported adherence. Multivariate logistic regression revealed those instilling eye drops independently had higher odds of good adherence. Conclusions The level of medication adherence in the virtual glaucoma clinic was higher than adherence in previous studies examining patients attending face-to-face clinics. Virtual clinics should incorporate methods to ensure effective two-way communication with patients and strategies for patient education.