CHANGES IN THE TREATMENT PLANS OF GLAUCOMA PATIENTS IN A REAL-WORLD SITUATION

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the changes in glaucoma prescriptions during a single visit in real-world situation at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Glaucoma Department of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from September 1st, 2015 to February 29th, 2016 after the ethical approval. Of total 876 consecutive participants, 868 were included in the study. Complete ocular examination was carried out for each subject including intraocular pressure (IOP) by Goldmann, visual field and nerve fiber analysis if it was scheduled. Ocular and systemic co-morbidities as well as ocular surgeries were also noted. Number of topical medications including anti-glaucoma and other drugs were recorded before and after their visit. The changes in anti-glaucoma medications were then categorized as unchanged, changed, added or deleted. The results were analyzed via SPSS version-24. RESULTS: A total 1600 eyes of 868 patients were included in this study. Out of 868 patients, 507 (58.41%) were males and 291 (33.52%) were in 61-70 years age group. Majority of patients (n=680/868: 78.34%) had open-angle glaucoma. Out of 1600 eyes studied, 574 (35.87%) had moderate and 556 (34.75%) had severe stage of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. During single visit, glaucoma-related prescriptions were unchanged, changed, added and deleted in 618/868 (71.20%), 84/868 (9.68%), 95/868 (10.94%) & 71/868 (8.18%) patients respectively. In our study, 911/1600 (56.94%) eyes achieved target IOP ≤14 mmHg. CONCLUSION: In real-world situation, most of our glaucoma patients were stable and required no changes to their prescriptions in single visit.