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  • Concerns Reported by Patients With Glaucoma

    By Lynda Seminara and selected by Richard K. Parrish II, MD
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    Journal Highlights

    American Journal of Ophthalmology, June 2017

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    Mogil et al. examined the nature and degree of concerns expressed by patients with glaucoma and identified characteristics associated with those concerns. They noted various levels of trepidation about many factors affect­ing quality of life.

    For this prospective cross-sectional study, the authors developed a compre­hensive questionnaire and distributed it to patients with glaucoma, who had various stages of glaucomatous damage and a range of optic disc and visual field (VF) abnormalities. Concerns addressed by the questionnaire were grouped into 5 domains: general eye­sight, socioeconomic issues, activities, visual symptoms, and other ocular symptoms (such as dryness and tear­ing). The severity of each concern was rated by the patient on a scale of 0 (no concern) to 5 (extreme concern).

    The questionnaire was completed by 152 patients (mean age, 69 years). The VF mean deviation (MD) was –8.03 ± 7.86 dB in the better eye and –16.06 ± 10.22 dB in the worse eye. The greatest degree of concern pertained to general eyesight (2.92/5.00), followed by visual symptoms (2.78/5.00) and activities (2.20/5.00). Common specific concerns were difficulty reading small print (34%), blurry vision (32%), ocular dry­ness (32%), and medical costs (26%).

    Concern about visual symptoms correlated with VF MD of the better eye (r = –0.258; p = .001) and worse eye (r = –0.233; p = .004). Activity-related concerns were associated with a history of glaucoma surgery (r = 0.148; p = .023) and VF MD of the better eye (r = –0.284; p < .001) and worse eye (r = –0.295; p < .001). Socioeconomic concerns correlated with age (r = –0.260; p = .001) and VF MD of the better eye (r = –0.245; p = .003). The degree of concern about general eyesight and ocular symptoms was not found to cor­relate with any demographic or clinical characteristic.

    The researchers concluded that con­cerns vary widely among patients with glaucoma. Greater understanding of these concerns may help clinicians per­sonalize the management of glaucoma, which could improve compliance.

    The original article can be found here.