[Relationship between method of payment and eyedrop usage in patients after cataract surgery]

To assess the relationship between pay methods and eyedrop usage, we compared the duration of usage of 4% Sulfisomeazole (Sinomin, 10ml/bottle, Shionogi, Taiwan), 0.1% Fluorometholon (Flumetholon, 5ml/bottle, Santen, Japan), and 0.1% Dexamethasone (Maxidex, 5 ml/bottle, Alcon, Belgium) in patients after cataract surgery. The study subjects included 108 insured patients (mean age 64.73 years) and 49 uninsured patients (mean age 67.30 years). The results were as follows. The duration of eyedrop usage in the uninsured (4% Sinomin: 19.18 +/- 1.92 day/bottle, 0.1% Flumetholon: 16.95 +/- 1.41 day/bottle, and 0.1% Maxidex: 14.53 +/- 1.54 day/bottle) was significantly longer than in the insured (4% Sinomin: 13.15 +/- 0.71 day/bottle, 0.1% Flumetholon 12.52 +/- 0.63 day/bottle, and 0.1% Maxidex 9.59 +/- 0.45 day/bottle; each P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the duration of eyedrop usage among the patients with different types of insurance.

our results indicated a close relationship between method of payment and eyedrop usage.