PURPOSE: To demonstrate the importance of assessing compliance objectively instead of subjectively in a population without ocular disease. METHOD: Thirty-five subjects were provided with one three-milliliter bottle of Refresh Tears and a calendar. Subjects instilled one drop in each eye twice a day and documented each administration on the calendar. When the bottle was empty, the calendars were returned and the number of administrations and missed doses were tabulated. The number of drops in six bottles of Refresh Tears, was counted to determine the drops per bottle. RESULTS: Twenty-seven subjects completed the study. The mean ± SD number of administrations per bottle was 63.15 ± 17.0 and median (interquartile range) number of administrations per bottle was 66 (54 - 71). The range of the number of administrations obtained per bottle was 26-110. The mean and median number of drops counted per bottle was 63.50 with ± SD of 1.0 and an interquartile range of 62.75 - 64.25. The median (interquartile range) number of doses missed was 2 (1 to 4). The mean ± SD number of doses missed was 4.93 ± 8.90. No statistically significant correlation was found between number of doses obtained and number of doses missed. CONCLUSIONS: Objective data demonstrates the wide range of number of administrations obtained per bottle. For this population, subjective reports of number of doses missed would have not been an accurate assessment of number of administrations obtained per bottle.
Learning Objectives: Participants will recognize the importance of judging compliance objectively. Although the results cannot be applied directly to the general population,the conclusions can be applied to aid practitioners when managing patients being treated with topical agents
Keywords: Prescription Drug Use Patterns, Treatment Adherence
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Refresh Tears were used in the study which are produced by Allergan
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.