Abstract
Purpose :
This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence, characteristics, and the awareness status of glaucoma in an elderly Chinese population.
Methods :
A total of 460 individuals aged ≥72 years were enrolled in this cross-sectional community-based eye disease screening program. Glaucoma was diagnosed according to the diagnostic criteria proposed by the International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology. Characteristics of subjects with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) were described and compared between groups using Mann–Whitney U and Fisher’s exact tests.
Results :
Forty subjects were diagnosed with glaucoma, including 17 subjects with POAG, 22 with PACG, and one with secondary glaucoma. The estimated prevalence for glaucoma, POAG, and PACG was 8.7%, 3.7% and 4.8%, respectively. In total, 71% of the subjects with PACG and 77% of POAG subjects presented with a normal intraocular pressure (IOP) of <19 mmHg. The demographic and ocular characteristics were similar between the two groups. Further, 95% of the glaucoma subjects ever visited an eye clinic, but only 32.5% of them were aware of the disease.
Conclusions :
Glaucoma is prevalent in the elderly population in Taiwan, but the diagnostic rate and disease awareness is low. Since most subjects with glaucoma presented with normal IOPs, optic disc evaluation is critical for diagnosing glaucoma in the elderly in Taiwan. More effort should be made, by educating both the doctors and the general population, to promote clinic-based screening of glaucoma.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.