GLAUCOMA PREVALENCE IN BRAZIL DEMONSTRATED IN TEN YEARS

Abstract

Purpose : There are few epidemiological studies in Brazil about glaucoma, a neuropathy which causes irreversible damage and is the second major cause of blindness in the world. It was used a brazilian health system database (DATASUS) to map the distribution of general frequency of glaucoma in Brazil by age and sex. The information was also obtained from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) to perform a cross sectional study.

Methods : The glaucoma cases reported by DATASUS were analyzed in Brazil over 10 years (2004-2014). Patients aged between 0 and 85 years old with glaucoma who had ambulatory care were included in the study. The total number of glaucoma cases varied between 566.895 and 2.004.975 into a population with 182.060.108 to 202.768.562 inhabitants. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 20.0 and Excel program.

Results : The data analysis showed prevalence rate of 0.8% over the corresponding years, with values between 0.6% and 1%. The estimated proportion of glaucoma cases in women was equivalent to 1.04%, while for man it was 1.15 %. In 2008, there was a lower proportion for both female and male and the relative risk ( RR ) was 0.97 for women related to men ( 95% CI: 0.97 to 0.98 ). The year 2014 showed the highest value corresponding to RR = 1.1 ( 95% CI: 1:10 to 1:11 ) . Regarding the age group, the group with the highest prevalence rate corresponded to the age between 70 and 79 years ( 6.2%), and the least affected group was aged between 10 and 19 years (0.12 %).

Conclusions : According to DATASUS, the prevalence of glaucoma in Brazil ranged from 0.6 % to 1% between 2004-2009. The distribution of the disease by age group showed higher incidence in the age group between 70 and 79 years. The data analysis showed lower rate than another few studies and this can be explained by underreporting in the brazilian database. Due to the difficulties of conducting epidemiological studies of glaucoma, the DATASUS information system is still relevant in the determination of health policies and must be improved.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.