Risk factors for noncompliance with follow-up among normal-tension glaucoma suspects.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate noncompliance with follow-up in normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) suspects.


METHODS
Retrospective cohort study.


METHODS
We reviewed 203 patient charts at a university eye clinic, identified as NTG suspects from a database of optic disk photographs. Noncompliance was defined as less than one year of follow-up and/or fewer than two completed visual field (VF) tests.


RESULTS
Twenty-two patients (11%) were excluded because at least two VF tests were not ordered. The 181 patients analyzed included 45 (25%) non-Whites and 16 (9%) non-English speakers. Eighty-three patients (46%) were noncompliant. These patients were significantly younger (50.5 +/- 15.0 years vs 55.1 +/- 12.8 years; P = .028), were more likely to speak English (P = .023), and were more likely to have no or unknown health insurance (P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
Almost half of NTG suspects lacked appropriate follow-up. Lack of health insurance may be a significant barrier to compliance with follow-up in this population.
Ngan
Rose
R
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Lam
Deborah L
DL
Mudumbai
Raghu C
RC
Chen
Philip P
PP
D002983:Clinical Competence; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000639:trends; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016312:Treatment Refusal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058609:Visual Field Tests; D014794:Visual Fields