Patient adherence and persistence with topical ocular hypotensive therapy in real-world practice: a comparison of bimatoprost 0.01% and travoprost Z 0.004% ophthalmic solutions

Abstract

BackgroundEffective control of intraocular pressure is predicated upon patient compliance with pharmacotherapy. We compared patient adherence and persistence with two new ocular hypotensive formulations, using real-world utilization data.MethodsThis observational cohort study employed pharmacy claims data from the Source® Lx (Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions) database. Patients with an initial (index) prescription for topical bimatoprost 0.01% or travoprost Z (April to June 2011) and no claim for ophthalmic prostaglandin or prostamide analogs within the previous 18 months were identified. Treatment adherence was expressed as proportion of days covered with study medication during the first 365 days after the index prescription. Treatment persistence with study medication was assessed over the first 12 months using Kaplan–Meier survival analyses, allowing a maximum 30-day gap for prescription refill. Treatment status was determined monthly over this period.ResultsA total of 12,985 patients were assessed for treatment adherence, and 10,470 for treatment persistence. Adherence was better with bimatoprost 0.01% than with travoprost Z (mean proportion of days covered 0.540 versus [vs] 0.486, P<0.001), and more patients showed high adherence (proportion of days covered >0.80) with bimatoprost 0.01% than travoprost Z (29.1% vs 22.3%, P<0.001). Continuous 12-month persistence was higher with bimatoprost 0.01% than with travoprost Z (29.5% vs 24.2%, P<0.001). At month 12, more patients were on treatment with bimatoprost 0.01% than travoprost Z (48.8% vs 45.7%, P<0.01). Similar findings were demonstrated in cohorts of ocular hypotensive treatment-naïve patients, branded latanoprost switchers, and older patients (age ≥65 years), and after inclusion of patient characteristics as covariates.ConclusionFor patients with glaucoma or ocular hypertension, bimatoprost 0.01% offers compliance advantages over travoprost Z.

Long Term Glaucoma Drug Delivery Using a Topically Retained Gel/Microsphere Eye Drop

“…The overwhelming majority of glaucoma patients are non-adherent to their treatment regime in some way, putting them at much higher risk for vision loss 36 . Non-adherence may be intentional (failure to fill prescription 37 or administer drops 5 ) or unintentional (failure to instill drops correctly 9 ).…”

“…Increased morbidity due to glaucoma progression results in significantly increased healthcare costs 4 . As low as approximately 30% of glaucoma patients are reported to have high levels of adherence to topical eye drop treatment 5 , 6 . In the majority of patients, adherence rates are consistently below 70% 7 , largely due to the required frequency of drop administration 8 and to a lesser extent difficulty of drop administration 9 .…”

Comparison of adherence between fixed and unfixed topical combination glaucoma therapies using Japanese healthcare/pharmacy claims database: A retrospective non-interventional cohort study

“…In several previous studies, adherence to glaucoma therapies was evaluated using pharmacy claims data. [17][18][19][20][21][22] Unfortunately, to our knowledge, no such study has been conducted in Japan. Therefore, this study aimed to compare patients' adherence between a xed-combination therapy and an un xedcombination therapy and to identify risk factors for nonadherence in Japanese patients with glaucoma by using a healthcare database.…”

Comparison of adherence and persistence between fixed and unfixed topical combination glaucoma therapies using Japanese healthcare/pharmacy claims database: a retrospective non-interventional cohort study

“…In several previous studies, adherence to glaucoma therapies was evaluated using pharmacy claims data. [17][18][19][20][21][22] Unfortunately, to our knowledge, no such study has been conducted in Japan. Therefore, this study aimed to compare patients' adherence and persistence between a xed-combination therapy and an un xed-combination therapy and to identify risk factors for nonadherence in Japanese patients with glaucoma by using a healthcare database.…”