Observational studyEye (London, England)2020
Eye drop technique and patient-reported problems in a real-world population of eye drop users.
Observational study in Eye (London, England), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effects of self-video feedback on the eyedrop instillation techniques of glaucoma patients: a prospective randomized controlled trial.International ophthalmology · 2024Trial
- Aptamers in Ocular Disease Therapy and Drug Delivery: Current Progress and Future Opportunities.Current therapeutic research, clinical and experimental · 2026Review
- Comparison of existing polypharmacy measures to a measure incorporating all modes of administration: an observational study using routinely collected data.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2026Observational
- Self-reported problems in medication self-management in older polymedicated patients in general practice.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Development of a conjunctival contact-type drug delivery device for latanoprost using hyaluronic acid.Drug delivery · 2025Article
- Development of Practical Low-Volume Screening Method and Pharmacokinetic Simulation of Levofloxacin-Loaded Nanofiber Inserts for Sustained Ocular Therapy.Pharmaceutics · 2025Article
- Assessment of eye drop instillation technique in patients with glaucoma: a hospital-based cross-sectional study in Eastern China.BMC ophthalmology · 2025Observational
- Optimizing instilled drug delivery: a scoping review of microdrops in ophthalmology.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2025Article
- Article
- Localization of fluorescent gold nanoparticles throughout the eye after topical administration.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Selection Criteria for Oils, Surfactants, and Co-Surfactants in Ocular Nanoemulsion Formulation: A Mini Review.Current pharmaceutical design · 2025Review
- Evaluating and Managing the Microbial Contamination of Eye Drops: A Two-Phase Hospital-Based Study.Pharmaceutics · 2024Article
- Dropless After Cataract Surgery (DACS) for patients with difficulties using eye drops.Eye (London, England) · 2024Article
- Article
- Ophthalmic Nanoemulsions: From Composition to Technological Processes and Quality Control.Molecular pharmaceutics · 2021Review
- Subjective and objective assessment of the eye drop instillation technique: A hospital-based cross-sectional study.Indian journal of ophthalmology · 2021Observational
- Evaluation of the usability, efficacy and safety of a novel ophthalmic eye drop dispenser designed to deliver preservative-free artificial tears for the treatment of dry eye disease.Therapeutic advances in ophthalmologyArticle
- In search of disambiguation: development of eye drop bottle sleeves to aid in identification and survey among possible users. A cross-sectional study.Sao Paulo medical journal = Revista paulista de medicinaArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess eye drop technique and patient-reported problems with eye drop instillation in a primary care sample of eye drop users.
methodsCross-sectional observational study in 136 community pharmacies in Belgium. Patient inclusion criteria were being age ≥ 18 years and using eye drops for ≥ 1 month (to ensure that patients were already familiar with eye drop instillation). Participants demonstrated their eye drop technique and completed a self-administered questionnaire.
resultsParticipants (n = 678) had a mean age of 68.9 ± 12.4 years. During the demonstration, almost everyone (98.0%) successfully instilled at least one drop in the eye, although 14% required multiple attempts to achieve this. Only 3% of the sample exhibited perfect drop technique, meaning that they performed correctly all the steps. Most common deviations were touching the bottle to the eye or eyelid (40.7% of patients), and failing to close the eye (67.8%) and perform nasolacrimal occlusion for at least 1 min (94.7%) after drop instillation. Importantly, we found that 20% of ophthalmic suspensions were not shaken before use. Forty percent of patients reported ≥ 1 problem with eye drop instillation. Most common problems were difficulties with getting a drop in the eye (18.3% of patients), too many drops coming out of the bottle (14.6%), and difficulty squeezing the bottle (12.2%). About half of the sample recalled having had education in eye drop instillation technique.
conclusionThis study showed suboptimal eye drop technique in real-world clinical practice. A proactive role of community pharmacists in detecting and resolving these problems could be helpful.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.