[Prevalence and description of treatment with intraocular pressure-lowering topical medications in continental France].
OBJECTIVE
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).


CONCLUSIONS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Delcourt
C
C
Inserm, Unité U593, Epidémiologie, Santé Publique et Développement, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France.
Bron
A
A
Baudouin
C
C
Denis
P
P
Nordmann
J-P
JP
Renard
J-P
JP
Rouland
J-F
JF
Sellem
E
E
Stephan
M
M
Levrat
F
F
Solesse
A
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003625:Data Collection; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008875:Middle Aged; D009798:Ocular Hypertension / Q000145:classification* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D013689:Telephone