Prcies: Empowering glaucoma patients to access their individual glaucoma related health data by using a digital health application leads to a significant improvement in quality of life and adherence.
Purpose: Evaluate the effectiveness of improvement of glaucoma associated quality of life and adherence in patients using a digital health application.
Patients and methods: A prospective randomized monocentric controlled study of 77 patients with primary open angle glaucoma. Patients were recruited at the University Hospital Erlangen. Patients in the intervention group tracked their intraocular pressure, symptoms and therapy using a digital application. Based on the collected data the SmartTonoTracker® gave patients simple statistics and basic recommendations for further treatment. An increasing score on the GlauQol-36 item questionnaire and the MMAS-8 score, conducted at baseline and follow-up by the intervention group, was considered successful. Statistical analysis was conducted using the unpaired t-test, paired t-test, Man-Whitney-U test, frequency analysis, frequency distribution and Pearson-correlation.
Results: Significant difference in the patients´ glaucoma-associated quality of life between the intervention group (rate of improvement: 7.6%, P =0.047), and the control group (rate of improvement: 0.17%, P =0.047) was shown. Also, a significant difference in adherence between the intervention group, showing a 9.8% rate of improvement ( P =0.002), and the control group, showing a 3.8% rate of improvement ( P =0.002), was shown.
Conclusion: Enabling patients to access individual health related glaucoma data by using a digital health application and supporting them with information on their disease led to an improvement in glaucoma-associated quality of life and adherence.
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