Kehinde A Ganiyu1
,
Temitope A Ojo2,
Goodluck AR Berikebuna1
For correspondence:- Kehinde Ganiyu Email: pharmkenny@gmail.com Tel: +2347031380705
Received: 11 August 2020 Accepted: 13 August 2020 Published: 23 September 2020
Citation: Ganiyu KA, Ojo TA, Berikebuna GA. Drug prescribing in the management of glaucoma at the ophthalmology clinic in a tertiary health facility in South-South Nigeria. Trop J Med Dent Pract 2020; 1(1):1-5 doi: https://doi.org/10.47227/tjmdp/v1i1.1
© 2020 The author(s).
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Background: Glaucoma is among the leading causes of blindness in Nigeria and the world over. Hence, there is a need to study outcomes of its medication management, locally. The purpose of this study was to evaluate drug prescribing in the management of glaucoma at the eye clinic in Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
Methods: Case notes of 102 patients who presented at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa for glaucoma management from January to December 2018 were purposively selected. They were assessed for drug prescribing, and change in intraocular pressure (IOP) and cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) at fourth-month from baseline of therapy.
Results: Each of the patients was placed on average of 2.64±0.96 anti-glaucoma drugs as at fourth-month of therapy. Timolol (35.6%), latanoprost (25.9%) and dorzolamide (13.7%) were the most prescribed. Latanoprost/timolol and dorzolamide/timolol, each prescribed for 29 (50.0%) of the patients, were the main anti-glaucoma drugs prescribed as fixed-dose combinations. On the average, IOPs (mmHg) reduced by 2.46 (p<0.05) and by 2.37 (p<0.05) in the left and right eyes, respectively at fourth-month from the baseline of therapy. Meanwhile, there was no significant increase (p>0.05) in the CDRs for either the left or the right eyes.
Conclusion: Rational prescribing was observed in the study, with each of the patients receiving an average of 2.64±0.96 anti-glaucoma drugs per encounter, notably timolol and latanoprost. IOP control was optimal while the average change in CDRs was negligible for both eyes at the fourth-month of therapy.
