Abstract
Purpose: :
We wished to determine the salient epidemiological features of glaucoma suspects in an ethnically diverse North Texas patient population.
Methods: :
DGR database contains 2,510 patients, and 39% are glaucoma suspects, from which the following information was obtained : IOP >21mmHg, suspicious optic disc findings (SOD), family history of glaucoma (FMH), suspicious visual field or retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (VF/RNFL) and glaucoma treatment.
Results: :
Caucasian patients were older than African-American patients (69.1 vs. 63.1 years, p < 0.001) and 7.5 years older than Hispanics (p < 0.001). Caucasian patients had smaller cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) than non-Caucasians (0.51 vs. 0.57, p < 0.001) while there was no significant CDR difference between African-American and Hispanic patients. Substantial differences existed in central corneal thickness (CCT) between Caucasians and African-Americans (559.2 vs. 536.9 um, p < 0.001), and between Caucasian and Hispanics (559.2 vs. 545.0 um, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: :
Racial differences were evident in glaucoma suspects. Suspicious optic disc is the most common finding followed by increased IOP. African-American suspects were younger, had higher CDR and lower CCT than other races. Hispanic individuals had features in between the other two races.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: treatment/prevention assessment/controlled clinical trials