EAMS Study

Background:

Nonadherence to daily eye drop medications – the treatment for 89% of glaucoma patients is a key modifiable driver of vision loss in glaucoma. In current practice, patients are diagnosed with glaucoma and simply given a prescription, while only 1 in 8 physicians teach patients how to use their eye drops. Of the 50% of newly diagnosed patients who actually fill their initial prescription, 20% do not succeed in getting the drop into their eyes. Glaucoma primarily affects older adults, a population for whom successful medication instillation may be affected by sensorimotor deficits of aging. 

What is the SMART Bottle Study goal?

The study's long-term goal is to develop a system to monitor medication use, quantify whether administered drops actually get into the eyes, communicate usage data to the patient’s health care team, and coach patients on how to use their eye drop medications using a data-driven individualized approach. 

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can cause vision loss and irreversible blindness by damaging the optic nerve in the back of the eye, which carries images from the eye to the brain.