Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose:The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of primary open–angle glaucoma (POAG) in the United States using secondary data – the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Methods:: Retrospective analysis was performed using data collected in the 2001 MEPS. The MEPS was cosponsored and conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Center for Health Statistics with the primary purpose of estimating health care utilization and expenditure in the US population. The MEPS collected and combined survey and administrative claims data from a nationally representative sample of 33,556 respondents and from respondents’ health care and insurance providers. Data used in this study included demographics (patients > 40 years old), medical conditions, and utilization of medical care. Patients with POAG were identified using ICD–9–CM codes. Sample estimates were weighted and projected to the population and 95% confidence limits were calculated using the Taylor expansion method. Results: Using the MEPS, the estimated prevalence of POAG was 1.25% (95% C.L.=0.94%–1.56%) or 1,640,087 individuals in the population. Conclusions: Available estimates of the prevalence of POAG in the US have varied, ranging from 1.86% to 4.74%, primarily as a result of differences in experimental designs and sampling frames. Relative to the most recently published estimates, the findings of this study are congruous with and reasonably approximate estimates below 2%. Thereby, secondary sources of nationally representative data may be useful to estimate the prevalence of conditions or diseases, such as POAG, in the US. Additional studies to assess the occurrence and distribution of POAG should be conducted to further characterize its clinical impact and to promote the allocation of 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