Persistence of Glaucoma Therapy and Visual Field Progression

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Clinical Pharmacy

Background:

• Glaucoma therapy requires long-term adherence to medication.
• Medication persistence is crucial for managing intraocular pressure and preventing vision loss.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between medication persistence and visual field (VF) progression in patients undergoing glaucoma treatment.

Main Methods:

• Pharmacy records were analyzed for 175 patients over 3 years to determine medication persistence.
• Visual field progression was assessed using pointwise linear regression over a 6-year post-therapy period.
• Progression was defined by specific criteria for progressing points and hemifields.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant differences in VF progression rates were found between persistent (4.3% or 2.1%) and nonpersistent (7.8% or 9.4%) glaucoma patients.
• Key metrics like the number and slope of progressing points, and global slopes, were similar between the groups.

Conclusions:

• Small, non-significant differences in visual field progression exist between persistent and nonpersistent glaucoma medication users.
• Medication adherence may not be a significant predictor of VF progression in this cohort.