Enquête française glaucome et hypertonie 1 jour

[Early adherence to anti-glaucoma therapy: An observational study]

OBJECTIVES

Glaucoma is a major cause of blindness, preventable by a regular therapy. Thus, a good knowledge of patients' adherence to preventive therapy is critical to improve disease management. Early persistence to first-line glaucoma therapy is poorly documented in France. We verified to what extent first-line glaucoma therapy was interrupted within the 12 months following initiation and how this interruption varied with patients' characteristics and drug classes.

METHODS

Patients newly-treated with chronic glaucoma therapy (prostaglandins, beta-blockers alone or combined with another therapy, and topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitors) between 2005 and 2008 were identified in the French National Claims data (1/97th random sample). Twelve-month persistence was defined by the presence of the first-line drug class (≥1dispensation) between the 12th and 24th months following initiation. Twelve-month persistence was compared between patients according to the first-line drug classes and baseline characteristics. Proportion of days covered (12 months) and number of quarters with initiated drug class (24 months) were also studied.

RESULTS

Among 5331 patients initiated with chronic glaucoma therapy in monotherapy (63% aged ≥60 years old, 57% females), initiated therapy mainly consisted of prostaglandins (43%) and beta-blockers alone (32%). Only 45% of the patients were persistent to first-line therapy 12 months after initiation. Salient differences in persistence rates appeared between drug classes (P<0.0001): from 59% with prostaglandins to 26% for topical carbonic anhydrase inhibitors. Better results also appeared for prostaglandins with other dimensions of adherence. Non-persistent patients were more likely younger than 40, or conversely aged≥80 (P<0.0001). They were also more likely to necessitate social assistance for therapy (P=0.0007). No salient difference appeared as to gender.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings confirm the low early persistence of first-line therapy, despite better results for prostaglandins. Education of patients and identification of barriers to adherence could contribute to improve quality of care.

Epidemiology of major eye diseases leading to blindness in Europe: a literature review

The objective of this work was to study the epidemiology of major eye diseases leading to blindness in Europe through a systematic literature review. The literature search was performed using the Medline database (PubMed), with MeSH and free text search terms. Inclusion criteria for the studies were: (a) performed on a healthy population of Caucasian origin aged between 50 and 75 years; (b) diagnosed by ophthalmological examination in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases 10; (c) contained a detailed description of the sampling and diagnostic procedures and data resources; (d) sample size>500, and (e) published between 1990 and 2008. The results of 57 studies on the prevalence and incidence of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are reported, providing an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of these diseases in Europe from an epidemiological perspective.

[Therapeutics of primary open-angle glaucoma in Cotonou: a series of 224 cases]

AIMS

To determine POAG features and evaluate topical management in Cotonou, Benin, in order to suggest therapeutic diagrams adapted to local therapeutic conditions.

PATIENTS AND METHOD

This was a retrospective, longitudinal study with cross-sectional collection of data from subjects with POAG who were admitted to the CNHU and Bethesda Hospital ophthalmologic center in Cotonou, Benin, from 1st January 2007 to 31st December 2008.

RESULTS

Visual acuity higher than 6/10 improved from the first consultation (47.3% on the right and 43.8% on the left) to the second (62.5% on the right and 62.9% on the left). All the patients had received a topical treatment with predominance of monotherapy (59.4%) at the first consultation. Beta-blockers were the most frequently prescribed, alone or in association. They reduced IOP by 12.8% in the right eye and 14.6% in the left eye. The prostaglandins were responsible for 26.2% and 27.8% of IOP reduction in the right and left eyes, respectively. Whatever the therapeutic diagram, IOP decreased from one consultation to another (p<0.0001). The IOP was higher than 21 mm Hg in the majority of the cases at the first consultation (62.5% in right eye, 63.4% in the left eye) and lower than 21 mm Hg (75.9% in the right eye, 74.6% in the left eye) at the second. Dual therapy (t=72.2) was more effective than monotherapy (t=52.3).

CONCLUSION

The search for therapeutic effectiveness and better treatment observance should bring physicians to more indications of surgery.

Prévalence et description du traitement par hypotonisants pour glaucome et hypertonie oculaire en France

PURPOSE

The first objective of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of patients treated for glaucoma or ocular hypertension (OHT) with an IOP (intraocular pressure) -lowering topical medication. Subjects were 40 years old and living in continental France. The second objective was to describe the type of therapy, compliance, and the quality of life of the subjects treated.

METHODS

This study was a telephone survey conducted in a general population on a representative sample of 5726 subjects in 2004. Subjects treated for glaucoma or OHT were defined as those declaring use of eye drops for more than 1 month and mentioning one of the 52 registered IOP-lowering topical medications and/or stating that they were taking eye drops for glaucoma or OHT. Quality of life was measured using the GlauQOL-17 questionnaire.

RESULTS

237 subjects (4.1%) corresponded to this definition. The prevalence increased with age, from 0.7% in subjects aged 40-44 years to 10.6% in those aged 80 years or more. The age-standardized prevalence was higher in the Paris area (5.3%), the Mediterranean (4.5%), and the Southwest (4.7%), and lower in rural areas (3.2%), and in subjects with less than high school education (2.9%). Beta-blockers (49.5%) and prostaglandins (37.4%) were the most frequent treatments, followed by carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (15.3%), sympathomimetics (5.7%), and myotics (1.3%). Compliance was not total in 39% of the patients (22% of those treated with once-a-day dosage).

DISCUSSION

The results of the present study are in line with French health authority data and with the results of the French "Glaucoma and intraocular high pressure, one day" study results. Moreover, the lower prevalence in regions with low medical density, low socioeconomic level, and rural areas, suggest that glaucoma or OHT might be underdiagnosed.

CONCLUSION

On the basis of this first nationwide study, it can be estimated that the prevalence of subjects treated with IOP-lowering topical medications is about 1.2 million in France. The number of daily doses appears to influence compliance.