title: A medication monitor and fluorescein technique designed to study medication behaviour.
abstract: Methods were developed to study medication behaviour, in order to obtain accurate and detailed information on the patterns of drug-taking in medication with eye drops. A medication monitor was designed, which recorded the date and hour each time the medication bottle was opened. A fluorescein technique was designed to study the ability of patients to administer the eye drops into the conjunctival sac. Some problems in the measurement of medication behaviour are discussed. In a group of patients with open-angle glaucoma, for whom pilocarpine eye drops three times daily had been prescribed, 18% of dose intervals had a duration of 12 h or more and 11% had a duration of 4 h or less. Fluorescein tests indicated that the patients were usually able to administer the eye drops correctly.
mesh_terms: D005452:Fluoresceins; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012646:Self Administration / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005452:Fluoresceins; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D010862:Pilocarpine