Patient Adherence to Immunosuppressive Therapy in Treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Eye Disease

ABSTRACT

Title

Patient Adherence to Immunosuppressive Therapy for Chronic Inflammatory Eye Disease

Purpose

To investigate adherence rates to immunosuppressive therapy (IMT) for treatment of noninfectious inflammatory eye disease (IED), adherence and disease control, and factors associated with nonadherence.

Method

Retrospective review of medical charts from 2015 to 2020 was conducted on patients with IED at 6 months, 1 and 2 years after initiation of IMT.

Results

Of 183 patients, adherence rates at 6 months and 1 year were 70% and 58% by 2 years. Eighty-two percent, 78%, and 65% of patients with disease quiescence were adherent at 6 months, 1 and 2 years, respectively. Adherent patients have 1.86 (95% CI 1.09, 3.20) times greater likelihood for disease control compared to nonadherent. Primary reason for nonadherence was patient self-discontinuation. No specific factors were associated with nonadherence.

Conclusion

Patients on IMT for IED had steady adherence rates up to 1 year, with decreased adherence at 2 years. Adherence to IMT significantly correlates with disease quiescence.

KEYWORDS:

• Immunosuppressive therapy
• inflammatory eye disease
• medication adherence
• preventable vision loss
• scleritis
• uveitis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2022.2145314

Additional information

Funding

Funding associated with this manuscript: P30 EY001792, unrestricted departmental funding from Research to Prevent Blindness.