Monitoring compliance with pilocarpine therapy.

I used a recording medication monitor to obtain objective information on self-medication by date and hour from a group of 82 patients using pilocarpine three times daily to prevent visual loss from glaucoma. Doses meant to be taken during the day were missed more than twice as often as morning or evening doses. Of the missed doses, 272 (54%) were noon doses, but only 98 (19%) were morning doses. Medication compliance may be substantially improved by choosing a drug that needs to be taken less often than three times daily. The number of missed doses per day increases significantly during a 20-day period between clinic visits. This suggested that shorter intervals between clinic visits may improve adherence to the drug regimen prescribed.