Patient Centricity and the Ethics of Glaucoma Care

摘要

The ultimate goal of glaucoma therapy, as of any other therapeutic intervention, is to achieve superior clinical outcomes, patient satisfaction, and patient adherence to treatment. In a chronic asymptomatic disease, such as, glaucoma, where diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms may have multiple acceptable treatment arms, patient centricity becomes increasingly important. Shared decision-making, patient participation, quality of life (QoL) concerns, and risk–benefit analyzes further complicate this decision-making. In addition, the ethics of research in glaucoma and also that of glaucoma screening may often be in conflict with the ethics of patient care. This article aims to highlight the ethical dilemmas that confound decision-making in current glaucoma practice, and the doctors’ fiduciary duties to the patient.