Systematic review of educational interventions to improve glaucoma medication adherence: an update in 2015

Purpose: To evaluate the current state of the research on educational interventions whose aim is to improve glaucoma medication adherence. Methods: A systematic review of Pubmed, Embase and CINAHL was conducted to identify research studies evaluating educational interventions to improve glaucoma medication adherence. Studies were included if the intervention was described, the outcomes assessed glaucoma medication adherence and the focus of the research was on adults with glaucoma. The search was conducted on June 2, 2015. Results: Seventeen studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. These included nine randomized controlled trials and eight observational studies. Eight of the studies demonstrated an impact on glaucoma medication adherence, though their outcome measures were too heterogeneous to estimate a pooled effect size. Conclusion: The interventions that successfully improved glaucoma medication adherence used an adequate dose of face-to-face counseling to overcome barriers to health behavior change alongside education about glaucoma.