Compliance and psychological conditions: a long‐term investigation in 245 glaucomatous patients

A long-term epidemiological investigation was made with 245 open-angle glaucoma patients classed in 3 age bands and by sex, with the aim of determining the prevalence of compliance and the psychological conditions induced by the extended time factor of the disease. It became clear that a good level of compliance can be obtained if patients understand the severity of the disease and its possible consequences and a good relationship exists between patient and doctor. The higher tendency towards depression in under-45-year-old women is. perhaps, due to the undesirability of having to accept a situation requiring an indefinite period of treatment.