Glaucoma Care of Incarcerated Patients at an Academic Institution: A Case-Control Study

PURPOSE: To evaluate medication and follow-up adherence in incarcerated patients examined at an academic glaucoma clinic, in comparison to nonincarcerated controls. METHODS: Retrospective, case-control study. Consecutive prisoners presenting for initial visits in the Glaucoma Clinic at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary between December 2015 and December 2017 were included in the study. Nonincarcerated patients seen in the same Glaucoma Clinic with similar initial visit dates, age, race, sex, and disease severity were selected as controls. Glaucoma Clinic visits from each patient were reviewed until December 2018. Examination information, surgical intervention, follow-up and treatment recommendations, and patient-reported medication usage were recorded for each visit. Number of visits, loss to follow-up, follow-up delays, and medication nonadherence were studied as primary outcome measures. RESULTS: Twenty-four prisoners and 24 nonincarcerated controls were included. Prisoners had an average of 2.46 ± 2.38 visits during the study period, compared to 5.04 ± 3.25 for controls (P = 0.001). Follow-up visits occurred more than 30 days after the recommended follow-up time in 57.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 44.2%–70.6%) of prisoners, compared to 17.9% (95% CI: 10.2%–25.6%) of controls (P < 0.00001). 70.8% of prisoners (95% CI: 66.3–74.5%) were lost to follow-up, compared to 29.2% of controls (95% CI: 25.5%–32.9%; P < 0.01). Medication nonadherence rates were similar between prisoners (13.6%; 95% CI: 12.1%–15.2%) and controls (12.0%; 95% CI: 11.4%–12.6%; P = 0.78). CONCLUSIONS: Glaucoma follow-up adherence was significantly worse in prisoners compared to a nonincarcerated control population. Further study into causative factors is needed.