Evaluation of an educational program for patients with glaucoma

Abstract

PURPOSE: To analyze the results of an educational program applied to glaucoma patients; to serve as a guideline for a definitive educational program to be developed at the Glaucoma Service of the University of Campinas. METHODS: Fifty glaucoma patients were given information about the disease and its treatment by an experienced nurse and answered the same questionnaire before and 2.7 months after the initial explanation. The technique of eyedrop instillation was compared before and after the educational program. RESULTS: There was no significant improvement concerning the knowledge of the identification of the ocular disease, the side effects, the meaning of glaucoma, the importance of treatment, the purpose of medications and the normal value of intraocular pressure. There was a significant improvement in all steps of eyedrop instillation (p<0.01) and in knowledge regarding the importance of heredity (p<0.001) and the purpose of perimetry (p=0.033). CONCLUSION: Although a significant improvement was observed in the technique of eyedrop instillation, the authors conclude that this plan was not complete enough for its contents fully to be understood. These findings may be secondary to the vertical teaching-learning process, which is inappropriate for the patient, and to the difficulty in comprehending the information, which is associated with low cultural and instruction levels, and to psycosocial factors related to their disease.