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eyeedocva
5 months
ago
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As an ophthalmologist I find it difficult to keep up with my Journal readings so I thought it would be helpful for ophthalmologists to list interesting articles to help us all out. So if anyone comes across anything please share. |
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eyeedocva
5 months
ago
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Survey examines glaucoma medication noncompliance, improper administration
More than half of glaucoma patients do not use their medications properly because of either noncompliance or improper administration techniques, according to results from a multicenter survey of Canadian patients with the disease.
Yvonne M. Buys, MD, FRCSC, and colleagues used a standardized questionnaire to estimate the prevalence and predictors of noncompliance and improper medication administration techniques for 500 patients with glaucoma at 10 eye care centers in Canada.
Noncompliance was defined as omitting at least one drop of medication weekly or failing to accurately explain a dosing regimen. In addition, the investigators evaluated the eye drop administration techniques of 473 of these patients.
Of the 500 patients, 25.6% said they missed at least one drop of medication per week, and 4.2% could not accurately describe their medication regimen, the authors said. The percentage of noncompliance for the entire cohort was 27.9%.
The authors reported that 6.8% of patients missed their intended eye when administering drops, and 28.8% of patients contaminated the bottle tip; overall, 33.8% of patients demonstrated improper administration techniques, according to the study.
Forgetfulness and being away from drops were the most frequent patient-reported causes for noncompliance.
The investigators found statistically significant associations between patient-reported noncompliance and formal education limited to elementary school (P = .004), as well as treatment duration of less than 5 years (P = .03).
Factors associated with improper administration techniques were age of 60 years and older (P = .005) and formal education limited to elementary school (P = .04), according to the study.
“Glaucoma patients should be educated on the importance of compliance and instructed on proper drop administration,” the study authors said in the August issue of Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology.
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augustaeye
5 months
ago
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Here’s another recent publication regarding glaucoma…
Study links exfoliation syndrome with decreased uveoscleral outflow
In eyes with either normal ocular tension or ocular hypertension, exfoliation syndrome appears to be associated with a decrease in aqueous outflow through the uveoscleral pathway, according to a prospective study by researchers in Nebraska. However, exfoliation syndrome only appears to reduce outflow facility in eyes with ocular hypertension.
Shan Fan, MD, and colleagues at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha evaluated the affect of exfoliation syndrome on aqueous humor dynamics among 80 patients with or without exfoliation syndrome who either had elevated IOP or normal ocular tension.
The patients were divided into two experimental groups and two control groups based on IOP and exfoliation syndrome status. The two experimental groups included patients with a history of exfoliation syndrome and either ocular hypertension (15 patients) or normal ocular tension (25 patients); the two, age-matched control groups included healthy volunteers with normal ocular tension (25 patients) and patients with ocular hypertension (15 patients) who had no other ocular pathologies.
After glaucoma medication washout, the investigators evaluated IOP, episcleral venous pressure, aqueous flow, outflow facility and uveoscleral outflow.
The investigators found that, compared with controls, uveoscleral outflow was significantly decreased in patients with exfoliation syndrome, independent of IOP.
Regardless of exfoliation syndrome status, patients with ocular hypertension demonstrated decreased outflow facility compared with patients with normal ocular tension, the authors noted.
The mean aqueous flow rates were statistically similar in all groups and were not correlated with IOP or influenced by the presence of exfoliation syndrome, according to the study, published in the July issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.
“These findings of reduced uveoscleral outflow may explain the higher IOPs that are difficult to control, which in turn contribute to an enhanced risk of glaucomatous optic neuropathy,” the study authors said.
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