[Economic impact of eyedrop cost in glaucoma treatment]

To evaluate the daily cost of antiglaucoma eyedrops and the economic impact related to the minimal wage; to compare the cost of drug association in the single presentation in relation to separate presentations; to analyze the additional percent antiglaucoma drug cost related to standard therapy (generic timolol maleate).

Fifteen eyedrop bottles of each one of the twenty antiglaucoma products were used. The number and mean eyedrop size per bottle of drug were measured and the duration and treatment costs calculated.

A large variation in the mean daily cost, respectively: R$ 0.077 for generic timolol maleate (cheapest) and R$ 1.910 for Xalacom (most expensive), was observed. It should be noted that the product of minimal economic impact, as related to the minimal wage, was the standard eyedrop therapy with 1.2% to 1.6%, while the association of Xalatan with Timoptol XE showed a variation of 21.7% to 30.0%. The cost of Cosopt and Xalacom was greater than the associations of, respectively: Trusopt + standard eyedrop and Xalatan + standard eyedrop (p<0.001). Xalacom represented an additional cost to standard therapy of 1.698.2% to 1.765.1%.

The variation of antiglaucoma eyedrop cost was almost 30 times between the cheapest and the most expensive, which represented an economic monthly impact of 29.1% on the value of the minimal wage. The combined therapy in the separate presentations presented a lower cost than drug association in a single presentation. The use of antiglaucoma drugs represents a high percent additional cost related to standard therapy.