Abstract
Purpose: :
To estimate the prevalence and distribution of open–angle glaucoma (OAG) by age and gender in the United States using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS).
Methods: :
A retrospective analysis was performed using data in the 2001 MEPS. MEPS collected and combined survey and administrative claims data from a nationally representative sample of 33,556 respondents and from health care and insurance providers. Data used in the present study included age, gender, medical conditions, and utilization of medical care. Patients with OAG were identified by ICD–9–CM codes. Sample estimates were weighted and projected to the population; 95% confidence limits (CL) were calculated using the Taylor expansion method.
Results: :
The estimated prevalence of OAG was 1.35% (95% CL=1.07%–1.63%) or 3,837,339 individuals in the population. The prevalence in those 40–59 years old and >60 years old was estimated as 1.34% and 1.94%, respectively. OAG was distributed approximately equally between men and women, estimated as 1.38% (95% CL=0.94%–1.82%) and 1.32% (95% CL=0.94%–1.71%), respectively.
Conclusions: :
Differences in experimental designs and sampling frames demonstrate a range of estimates of the prevalence of OAG in the US from 1.86% to 4.74%. The findings of the present study are congruous with and reasonably approximate estimates below 2%. This secondary data souce corroborates the prevalence of OAG increasing with age, and the rate was similar in men and women. Secondary sources of nationally representative data may be useful in estimating the prevalence and distribution of diseases such as OAG in the US, and the data derived may have the potential ability to help allocate scarce resources toward ocular health and the preservation of visual function.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: biostatistics/epidemiology methodology