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OBJECTIVE: To assess the compliance rate among glaucoma patients with medical treatment, to investigate the factors influencing their attitude and survey their expectations vis-à-vis the doctor. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a prospective descriptive study conducted in four eye clinics in Lomé from January 2013 to July 2013. It included all glaucoma patients aged 40 years and above who have been under medical treatment for at least 6 months, with no history of surgical treatment of glaucoma. The evaluation was performed on the basis of a questionnaire. Compliance was rated good, fair or poor according to the regularity of treatment, compliance with the prescribed dosage and schedule of instillations, good instillation technique and compliance with follow-up visits. Patients consented to participate in the survey. RESULTS: A total of 107 patients responded to our questionnaire. There were 43 men and 64 women with a sex ratio (M/F) of 0.67. The mean age was 52.40±11.03 years. In total, 7.5% of patients were illiterate. Compliance rate was estimated good in 10.3% of cases, fair in 65.4% of cases, and poor in 24.3% of cases. Only the regularity of treatment, schedule adherence and good instillation technique, as well as compliance with monitoring visits were found as significant factors (P<0.05). Concerning patients' expectations vis-à-vis the doctor, 49.5% said they expected nothing from the doctor, 12.1% were hoping for advice and moral support, and 11.2% were hoping for the prescription of effective but less expensive eye drops. CONCLUSION: A good compliance rate was very low. The improvement of this compliance rate requires better information, education and communication for behavior change, and it also requires a higher quality of care and accessibility of anti-glaucoma drugs.
Service d'ophtalmologie, CHU Sylvanus-Olympio, Lomé, Togo. Electronic address: santosmawuli@yahoo.fr.
Full article11.17 Cooperation with medical therapy e.g. persistency, compliance, adherence (Part of: 11 Medical treatment)