title: Compliance with topical timolol treatment.
abstract: To determine if compliance with timolol treatment was better than compliance with pilocarpine treatment (as reported previously), we measured compliance with timolol treatment in a sample of 110 patients using an unobtrusive eyedrop medication monitor, which recorded electronically the date and time of each drug administration over a four- to six-week period. The patients administered a mean +/- S.D. of 82.7% +/- 19.0% of the prescribed timolol doses (range, 20% to 100%). Forty-five patients were treated concurrently with timolol and pilocarpine. These patients administered a mean +/- S.D. of 84.3% +/- 14.0% of the prescribed timolol doses and 77.7% +/- 18.7% of the prescribed pilocarpine doses (P = .012, van der Waerden test). Our results suggest that while compliance is influenced by the drug regimen, defaulting is not eliminated by prescribing a more convenient medication with fewer side effects.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013999:Timolol / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D010862:Pilocarpine; D013999:Timolol