1. Factors Affecting Follow-Up Adherence of Glaucoma Patients.
- Author
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Singh, Ankit, Udayakumar, Balakrishnan, Duraisamy Ravilla, Thulasiraj, Ponnappan, Vedha, Krishnadas, Ramaswamy, and Satyavageeswaran, Prakash
- Subjects
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PATIENT compliance , *PHYSICIANS' assistants , *VISUAL acuity , *VISION disorders , *EYE care - Abstract
The objective of our study is to understand the factors associated with non-adherence to the physician's follow-up advice by persons with glaucoma. We use a four-year panel dataset containing demographic, clinical, and intervention details and doctor's advised follow-up date for a random sample of 2,622 glaucoma patients from an Indian tertiary eye care hospital. We model this unique "advised follow-up date" in multivariate logistic regressions to identify factors associated with patients' coming early or late as against on-time. An OLS regression also examines an association between delayed follow-up and declining visual acuity. Demographic variables such as age, gender, distance to hospital, IOP, and visual acuity were not associated with delayed adherence to follow-up. Patients advised to review within 2 months (p <.001), paying patients (p <.001), and those habituated to routine follow-up (diabetes patients) (p <.01) are less likely to delay care-seeking. Patients are more likely to come on-time in visits immediately after clinical interventions relative to later ones (p <.001). Our second analysis reveals the presence of cataract and the very first post-surgery visit as factors influencing patients to come early. Our third analysis reveals that a higher proportion of delayed visits had resulted in worsening of vision in the glaucoma-affected eye. Our results suggest that active counselling by doctors, especially for routine follow-up visits, can help in better follow-up adherence and prevention of glaucoma-related visual impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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