AIM: To investigate the compliance in patients with topical glaucoma therapy, and identify the most frequent barriers to adherence.

METHODS: One-on-one interview and questionnaire were taken to investigate the compliance with hypotensive eye drops in 366 patients who had been diagnosed as glaucoma and received the therapy for at least 6mo in Wuhan and suburban district from July 2014 to June 2015 in Wuhan Aier Eye Hospital.

RESULTS: The proportion of compliance was 44.3%(162/366). Factors significantly influencing compliance included severity of the better eye, the severity of symptom when attacked, duration of medication and whether to administrate on the same time daily(OR=5.700,0.554,0.336,0.558,P<0.05).Age, gender, marital status, education level, economic status, domicile, knowledge of the disease, suffering from other diseases with medication, type of glaucoma, type of eye drop, frequency were not associated with a higher rate of non-compliance.

CONCLUSION: Compliance in patients with topical glaucoma therapy in Wuhan is poor.Regularly carrying out relevant health education and interventions is very important.