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Abstract #24653 Published in IGR 11-4
Adherence to antiglaucoma drug treatment in newly treated patients
Moisan J; Fredette MJ; Duchesne T; Sirois C; Gregoire JPValue in Health 2009; 12: A457-A458
BACKGROUND: Lack of adherence to drug treatment is a major obstacle to disease control. Persistence and compliance are two components of adherence. OBJECTIVES: to assess: 1) the proportion of antiglaucoma medication users who persist on their treatment after 12 months; 2) the proportion of compliant users among them; and 3) the determinants of persistence and of compliance. METHODS: A population-based cohort study using the Quebec Health Insurance Board databases. Patients initiated on antiglaucoma medication treatment between January 1, 1998, and January 6, 2007 were included. Patients still undergoing treatment with any antiglaucoma medication 1 year after their first prescription were considered persistent. Of these patients, those with a supply of drugs for at least 80% of the days were deemed compliant. A multivariate logistic regression model using a stepwise procedure was used to identify the characteristics associated with both outcomes. RESULTS: Of 69,461 new users of antiglaucoma medication, 41,005 (59%) were persistent after 1 year, and 16,592 (40.5% of those who persisted) were compliant. Patients more likely to be both persistent and compliant were female and those whose first prescription was made by an ophthalmologist. Increasing age, living in a rural area, and having initiating glaucoma treatment after 2002 were associated with persistence, whereas having used more than five prescription drugs in the year preceding antiglaucoma treatment initiation was associated with better compliance. Patients initiated on sympathomimetics, parasympathomimetics, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, beta blocking agents and on more than one agent were less likely to persist than those initiated on a prostaglandin analog. Those initiated on parasympathomimetic, beta blocking agent or on more than one agent were less likely to be compliant. Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors users were more likely to be compliant. CONCLUSIONS: Among the new antiglaucoma treatment users, 24% adhered to their treatment. The initial drug influences the likelihood of both persistence and compliance.
J. Moisan. Universite Laval, QuebecCanada.
Classification:
11.17 Cooperation with medical therapy e.g. persistency, compliance, adherence (Part of: 11 Medical treatment)