Barriers and adherence to glaucoma medication in a paediatric glaucoma population: A cross-sectional survey in central Saudi Arabia

To examine barriers and adherence to topical glaucoma medication in a pediatric glaucoma population in Saudi Arabia.

This cross-sectional study was undertaken at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during 2016-2017. Parents (father or mother) of children aged 6 months to 15 years with a history of glaucoma were interviewed. Rasch analysis was performed to assess the psychometric properties of the developed 12-item barriers-to-adherence tool (BAT-12) and to identify barriers deemed highly important. The 12-items were adapted from previous studies examining different barriers to adherence in different populations. Medication adherence was assessed by asking parents a series of closed-ended questions about the frequency of missed medications. Determinants of missed medications on at least 1 out of the last 3 days were examined using Poisson regression.

One hundred and six parents were interviewed. The 12-item scale had acceptable psychometric properties. Barriers deemed important were forgetfulness (logit -0.59), complex dosing regimen (logit 0.09), and being too busy with other work/activities (logit 0.14). When asked how often, on average, their child missed the prescribed medication, 26 (24.5%) reported daily, 17(16.0%) reported few times per week, and 32 (30.2%) reported once per week. A third of parents (n = 37, 34.9%) reported having missed giving all drops on at least one day in the last 3 days. Poisson regression with robust variance revealed that increase in age of the child (prevalence ratio, 1.08 [95% CI, 1.03-1.14]; p = 0.003) and increase in parents' barriers score (prevalence ratio, 2.13 [95% CI, 1.49, 3.03]; p < 0.001) were significantly associated with having missed medications on at least one out of the last three days while adjusting for the effect of father's current employment status and area of residence.

The tool we used to examine barriers to glaucoma medication had acceptable psychometric properties and could be used and strengthened in future studies. Our study highlights poor adherence to glaucoma medications among children with glaucoma.