Contribution of multiple glaucoma medications to visual function and quality of life in patients with glaucoma

Previous studies examining the correlation between medical treatment and overall quality of life in patients with glaucoma assessed differences between a glaucoma population and a matched group (without glaucoma) and were not aimed specifically at detecting a relation between visual acuity, visual field status and medication use, and visual function and quality of life. We performed a study to determine this relation in patients with chronic open-angle glaucoma (COAG).

The study was cross-sectional. Of 235 English-speaking patients with a diagnosis of COAG, normal-pressure glaucoma or suspected glaucoma (receiving therapy) seen in a university-based glaucoma practice between Feb. 1 and Apr. 30, 1998, 224 (95.3%) agreed to participate. All subjects completed two questionnaires: the Visual Function Assessment and the EQ-5D, assessing health status (quality of life). Visual acuity, diagnosis, age, sex, country of birth, type and number of medications for topical and for oral use, dosage, and history of laser treatment and surgery were extracted from the medical record. Pearson rank correlation and multivariate analyses were performed.

On univariate analysis visual function was correlated with age, visual acuity, number of glaucoma medications, number of applications of eyedrops, mean deviation in better eye, mean deviation in worse eye, and lower hemifield involvement in both eyes. On multivariate analysis only visual acuity and visual field status were independently associated with visual function. Univariate analysis showed that health status was correlated with age, visual function and number of medications for oral use; however, age failed to retain statistical significance in the regression analysis.

Our results suggest that the number of glaucoma medications is not predictive of quality of life.