Compliance with eye care in glaucoma patients with comorbid depression.

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Compliance with eye care in glaucoma patients with comorbid depression. Isr Med Assoc J. 2011 Dec;13(12):730-4 Authors: Weiss GA, Goldich Y, Bartov E, Burgansky-Eliash Z Abstract BACKGROUND: Comorbid depression may play an important role in non-compliance with medical treatment among patients with chronic illnesses. Glaucoma is a potentially blinding chronic disease requiring life-long commitment to medical therapy. Failure to adhere to anti-glaucoma treatment may lead to disease progression and visual loss. OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in glaucoma patients and the association between these symptoms and non-compliance with anti-glaucoma therapy. METHODS: In this cross-sectional observational study, compliance with pharmacotherapy was assessed with the Morisky Medication Adherence questionnaire (eight items). Screening for depression was performed by means of the CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale). The association between depression and compliance rates was analyzed. RESULTS: The study group comprised 76 glaucoma patients; 19.7% of the subjects were classified as non-compliant (Morisky cutoff 10) and 21.1% suffered from depression (CES-D cutoff > or = 16). We found a similar level of non-compliance when comparing depressed with non-depressed glaucoma patients. However, a correlation was observed between the level of depression and the level of non-compliance (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed a similar rate of depression in glaucoma patients and the general israeli population. The presence of depression was not associated with the presence of non-compliance, yet the level of depression was associated with the level of non-compliance. PMID: 22332441 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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