Factors Affecting Follow-Up Adherence of Glaucoma Patients

ABSTRACT

Purpose

The objective of our study is to understand the factors associated with non-adherence to the physician’s follow-up advice by persons with glaucoma.

Methods

We use a four-year panel dataset containing demographic, clinical, and intervention details and doctor’s advised follow-up date for a random sample of 2,622 glaucoma patients from an Indian tertiary eye care hospital. We model this unique “advised follow-up date” in multivariate logistic regressions to identify factors associated with patients’ coming early or late as against on-time. An OLS regression also examines an association between delayed follow-up and declining visual acuity.

Results

Demographic variables such as age, gender, distance to hospital, IOP, and visual acuity were not associated with delayed adherence to follow-up. Patients advised to review within 2 months (p < .001), paying patients (p < .001), and those habituated to routine follow-up (diabetes patients) (p < .01) are less likely to delay care-seeking. Patients are more likely to come on-time in visits immediately after clinical interventions relative to later ones (p < .001). Our second analysis reveals the presence of cataract and the very first post-surgery visit as factors influencing patients to come early. Our third analysis reveals that a higher proportion of delayed visits had resulted in worsening of vision in the glaucoma-affected eye.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that active counselling by doctors, especially for routine follow-up visits, can help in better follow-up adherence and prevention of glaucoma-related visual impairment.

KEYWORDS:

• Counselling
• follow-up
• glaucoma
• non-adherence

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.