The Relationship between Glaucoma Medication Adherence, Eye Drop Technique, and Visual Field Defect Severity

Objective The purpose of the study was to examine (1) how patient adherence and eye drop technique were associated with visual field defect severity and (2) how general glaucoma adherence self-efficacy and eye drop technique self-efficacy were related to visual field defect severity. Design Cross-sectional study conducted at a single private practice site. Participants Patients using eye drops for their glaucoma. Methods Subject adherence to glaucoma medications through Medication Events Monitoring System (MEMS) devices were measured, and eye drop instillation technique was assessed by video recording. General glaucoma medication adherence self-efficacy was measured using a 10-item scale, and eye drop technique self-efficacy was measured using a 6-item scale. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Main Outcome Measures Visual field defect severity. Results Patients who were less than 80% adherent according to the MEMS devices were significantly more likely to have worse defect severity. Patients with lower scores on the general glaucoma medication adherence self-efficacy scale also were significantly more likely to have worse defect severity. Eye drop technique and eye drop technique self-efficacy were not related significantly to visual field defect severity. Conclusions Eye care providers need to assess patient adherence and to work with those patients with poor adherence to find ways to improve their ability and self-efficacy in using their glaucoma medications. Financial Disclosure(s) Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.