Compliance with Glaucoma Therapy with Eye Drops and its Determinants in Glaucoma Pa-tients Presenting to Clinics Affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Background: The present study was conducted to investigate medication compliance and its determinants in glaucoma patients presenting to Shahid Motahari Clinic affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. The correlation between quality of life and the level of medication compliance was also evaluated in these patients. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted on 94 patients with glaucoma presenting to Motahari glaucoma clinic in Shiraz for routine follow-ups. A data collection form was used to record the patients’ demographic and clinical data, including age, gender, level of education, living status (alone/with the family), presence of chronic diseases, type of glaucoma, duration of the disease, type of medication, number of medicines used, visual acuity and degree of glaucoma measured through examining the optic nerve. The Morisky medication adherence scale was used to evaluate the patients’ adherence to glaucoma medication, and the glaucoma quality of life-15 questionnaire to assess their quality of life. The data collected were analyzed in SPSS-19. P<0.05 was set as the level of statistical significance in all the analyses conducted. Results: Complete medication compliance was observed in 54 (57%) of the glaucoma patients, and the lack of medication compliance in 40 (43%). The relationships of medication compliance with age, gender, level of education, living status, comorbid chronic diseases, duration of glaucoma, number of medicines used, type of medication, mediation group, visual acuity and quality of life were found not to be statistically significant. Conclusion: The level of medication compliance was found to be suboptimal in glaucoma patients presenting to teaching health centers in Shiraz. Effective programs are recommended to be held to help correctly use medicines and identify the factors associated with the patients and the environment and the medicinal diet.