The leading cause of irreversible blindness across the world is Glaucoma -- a condition documented as disproportionately impacting minorities. The collectivity that are Asian Americans are documented as having a 5% higher likelihood of the most prevalent type, open-angle glaucoma (OAG), in comparison with non-Hispanic whites. Further, Black African Americans are documented as having a 50%--to 300% higher odds of being afflicted with the disease in comparison to Caucasians. These minority populations are also more likely to have inconsistent follow-up patterns and less education and training on treating glaucoma, leading to vast glaucoma health disparities. The standard first-line treatment for OAG and ocular hypertension is eye drops that lower intranocular pressure, requiring multiple hospital visits for monitoring and treatment adjustments. Yet, outcomes of this treatment --as with many chronic conditions-- depend on patient compliance, which is severely lacking. Thiese data indicates treatment as ineffective -- causing a 6-fold increase in the risk for further vision loss. This lack of adherence contributes to an avoidable healthcare cost burden of a staggering $500 billion annually in the United States alone. Current commercial solutions to monitor patient adherence offer few options for medication that include software solutions (e.g., mobile apps) that send reminders or motivational messages with rudimentary gamification elements and hardware solutions that use the monitoring data for clinical trial efficacy. Maximizing patient compliance with the medication can reduce the need for expensive surgical interventions required to treat glaucoma and prevent the financial and emotional burden of vision loss.
