title: Compliance with eye care in glaucoma patients with comorbid depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Comorbid depression may play an important role in non-compliance with medical treatment among patients with chronic illnesses. Glaucoma is a potentially blinding chronic disease requiring life-long commitment to medical therapy. Failure to adhere to anti-glaucoma treatment may lead to disease progression and visual loss.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in glaucoma patients and the association between these symptoms and non-compliance with anti-glaucoma therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional observational study, compliance with pharmacotherapy was assessed with the Morisky Medication Adherence questionnaire (eight items). Screening for depression was performed by means of the CES-D (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale). The association between depression and compliance rates was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study group comprised 76 glaucoma patients; 19.7% of the subjects were classified as non-compliant (Morisky cutoff 10) and 21.1% suffered from depression (CES-D cutoff > or = 16). We found a similar level of non-compliance when comparing depressed with non-depressed glaucoma patients. However, a correlation was observed between the level of depression and the level of non-compliance (P = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study revealed a similar rate of depression in glaucoma patients and the general israeli population. The presence of depression was not associated with the presence of non-compliance, yet the level of depression was associated with the level of non-compliance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Guy A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Yakov
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Goldich
authors.forename: Elisha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bartov
authors.forename: Zvia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Burgansky-Eliash
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007322:Instillation, Drug; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014787:Vision Tests
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents