Priorities and Treatment Preferences among Surgery-Naive Patients with Moderate to Severe Open-Angle Glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose: To explore patients' perspectives and experiences living with moderate to severe glaucoma through qualitative, semistructured interviews and to identify important benefits and risks that patients consider when choosing glaucoma treatments.

Design: Semistructured, in-person qualitative interviews with a convenience sample of patients seen at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute.

Participants: Surgery-naive patients 21 years of age or older with moderate to severe open-angle glaucoma seeking treatment at the Wilmer Eye Institute's Glaucoma Center of Excellence between August and December 2018.

Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with patients diagnosed with moderate to severe open-angle glaucoma, focusing on outcomes they prioritize when considering various treatment options. We used Atlas.ti software version 7.5.12 (Scientific Software Development GmbH, Berlin, Germany) to process interview transcripts and the framework approach to analyze the qualitative data.

Main outcome measures: Patients' descriptions of outcomes important to them in management of moderate to severe open-angle glaucoma.

Results: Thirteen men and 15 women with a median age 67 years participated in the study. Compared with the mild-to-moderate glaucoma patients interviewed previously, these participants similarly emphasized (1) activities of daily living, (2) visual symptoms, (3) treatment burden, and (4) intraocular pressure (IOP) control, but unlike patients with milder disease, most related IOP control directly to (5) avoiding disease progression. Almost all (27/28) had also given significant thought to (6) surgical decision making and could describe how they would decide for or against a particular procedure. Finally, two thirds (18/28) expressed (7) significant fear and worry related to their glaucoma diagnosis.

Conclusions: We identified outcomes that matter to patients who are undergoing treatment for moderate to severe glaucoma, many of which may serve as end points in clinical trials, such as functional independence in vision-dependent activities of daily living, avoidance of visual symptoms, and disease progression via maintenance of IOP control. We also observed that these patients have varied and nuanced perspectives on surgical management and its outcomes. It behooves providers and trial designers to consider these in future evaluations of new treatments for moderate to severe glaucoma.