Category: Peer-reviewed

Author reply

We thank Hong et al for their interest in our paper “Shifting Trends in Bacterial Keratitis in Toronto, an 11 Year Review.” In our paper, we reviewed the microbiology records of 1701 consecutive corneal scrapings; our main findings were a significa…

Author reply

We thank Hong et al for their comments regarding our manuscript and would like to address several important issues that they raise. The focus of our paper was specifically to study keratoplasty among patients with corneal endothelial disease (CED). Exp…

Glaucoma Severity and Medication Adherence in a County Hospital Population – Corrected Proof

Objective:
To assess the association between disease severity and adherence with glaucoma medications in a county hospital population.

Design:
Cross-sectional study.

Participants:
A total of 126 patients diagnosed with glaucoma receiving intraocular pressure (IOP)–lowering medication were recruited from the San Francisco General Hospital Ophthalmology Clinic.

Methods:
Subjects completed an oral questionnaire to assess demographic information, knowledge of glaucoma, and perceptions of glaucoma medication adherence. Glaucoma disease severity was classified according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Preferred Practice Pattern guidelines. Medication adherence was measured for each patient by obtaining pharmacy refill data and calculating medication possession ratio (MPR), that is, the ratio of total days’ supply of medication during a 365-day period. Adherence was measured retrospectively over the 18-month period before study entry. Subjects with an MPR >80% were considered adherent.

Main Outcome Measure:
Medication adherence.

Results:
Subjects with mild or moderate glaucoma were more likely to be nonadherent to their prescribed glaucoma medications than those with severe disease (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03–2.31; P = 0.04). Age, gender, race, education level, years of glaucoma, number of medications, and glaucoma diagnosis were not found to be statistically significantly associated with adherence.

Conclusion:
Patients with severe glaucoma were more likely to adhere to their topical IOP-lowering medication regimen than those with milder glaucomatous disease.

Financial Disclosure(s):
Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.

Author reply

The FDA acknowledges the extensive work performed by professional eye organizations, including the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), and Dr. Mamalis in combating Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome (TASS) outbreaks.

This Issue At A Glance

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A Simple Vista en Este Número

Aunque la queratoplastia endotelial con denudamiento de la Descemet (DSEK) es más costosa que la queratoplastia penetrante (PK) de grosor completo tradicional para la enfermedad endotelial, Bose y otros (p. 464) determinaron que la DSEK debe ser la al…