The clinical validity of the treatment satisfaction survey for intraocular pressure in ocular hypertensive and glaucoma patients.

PURPOSE

To provide initial validation of the Treatment Satisfaction Survey-Intraocular Pressure (TSS-IOP) quality-of-life survey that analyses specific issues related to side effects, patient satisfaction, and compliance.

METHODS

A prospective, observational cohort of 250 consecutive patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension was administered the TSS-IOP survey.

RESULTS

Factors that correlated with patient satisfaction included perceived effectiveness of the medicine (F=7.47, P<0.001), ocular irritation (F=6.06, P<0.001), conjunctival hyperaemia (F=4.40, P<0.001), ease of use (F=8.52, P<0.001), and convenience of use (F=6.90, P<0.001). Patient compliance, acceptance of their illness, and knowledge of glaucoma were also related to perceived effectiveness of the medicine (P<0.001), ease of use (P<0.05) and convenience (P<0.001). Physician ratings of patient pressure control, side effects, and instillation problems also were significantly correlated to patient satisfaction (R=0.13-0.26, P=0.05-0.001). The physician ratings of patient compliance, however, were not significantly related to any dimension of patient satisfaction (P>0.05). Among monotherapy prostaglandin treatments, latanoprost demonstrated statistically greater satisfaction than bimatoprost or travoprost regarding conjunctival hyperaemia (P<0.05) and eye irritation (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides initial evidence that patient satisfaction may be related to compliance, perceived effectiveness of treatment, adverse side effects, ease and convenience of use, acceptance of illness, and knowledge of glaucoma.