Objectives: Difficulty in
self-administering antiglaucoma eye drops represents a major challenge for
patients. An investigation into
the efficacy of an Eye Drop Guide to assist patients in improving
self-administration was undertaken.
Methods: This was a
prospective study of 93 patients.
Patients completed a questionnaire measuring their use of eye drops and
ease of eye drop self-administration without aids. Patients then used the Eye Drop Guide with their eye drops
for one week. Following this,
subjects completed a second questionnaire measuring preference as well as ease
of self-administration with the Eye Drop Guide.
Results: Before beginning use of the guide, the
overall rating for ease of eye drop administration was 7.96 on a scale of
10.00. Administration with the use
of the guide was given a rating of 6.23 (p < 0.01), indicating greater
difficulty of administration with the guide. Significantly more patients said they preferred to take
their drops without the guide (74%, p<0.01), and 71% (p<0.01) indicated
that they did not want to continue using the guide. Improved aim (14%) was
reported as the major advantage of the guide while sterilization (22%) and poor
bottle fit into the guide (16%) were reported as major disadvantages.
Conclusion: The Eye Drop
Guide failed to assist patients in improving self-administration. Key factors identified that made use of
the guide more difficult included sterilization and poor fit of bottles. Future considerations should
include design improvement of eye drop aids as well as patient education on
proper self-administration.