Cataract, glaucoma and season of birth amongst patients born on the Indian subcontinent.

The relation between the prevalence of open-angle glaucoma and of different types of cataract on the one hand and the patient's season of birth on the other was studied with special reference to natives of the Indian Subcontinent. Partial comparisons were made with results obtained on British-born patients. Both primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and the mixed nuclear/posterior-subcapsular type (NP) showed a statistically significant variation with the month of birth for the Asian patients, but only NP showed significant variation for the European patients in a month-by-month analysis. The Asian data are examined from the point of view of seasonal variations in maternal nutrition and of low birth-weight babies.

Glaucoma risk factors in primary open-angle glaucoma patients compared to ocular hypertensives and control subjects

To investigate the risk factors for glaucoma, we reviewed the clinical record of 361 primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients, 178 ocular hypertensives (OH), and 927 controls without POAG or OH, randomly selected from an urban medical center eye clinic. Old age defined as > or = 55 year, (odds ratio ratio (OR) = 3.13 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.06-4.76, P < .0001), black race (OR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.79-3.74, p < .0001), hypertension (OR = 1.709, 95% CI: 1.15-2.51, P < .0108), and diabetes mellitus (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.08-3.09, P = .0308) were identified as significant risk factors in POAG compared to OH. Old Age (OR = 4.94, 95% CI: 3.62-6.76, p < .0001), and black race (OR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.59-2.61, P < .0001), HTN (OR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.26-2.11, P = .0002), and DM (OR = 1.40 95% CI: 1.02-1.92 P = .0450) were also significant risk factors when compared to normal controls. However, when the 361 POAG patients were compared to 361 controls matched with respect to age, race, and sex, hypertension and diabetes mellitus did not appear to be independent risk factors. Family history of glaucoma was found to be a risk factors more significantly for OH (OR = 6.79, 95% CI: 4.39-10.50, P < .0001) than for POAG (OR = 2.83, 95% CI: 1.90-4.21, P < .0001) compared to the matched control subjects. The apparent importance of hypertension and diabetes as risk factors for POAG may therefore be due at least in part to a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in the elderly than the young and also in the black race as risk factors for glaucoma may be in part due to an increased prevalence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in the elderly and blacks. Positive family history of glaucoma appears to be a risk factor more specifically for elevated intraocular pressure than for glaucomatous visual field defects.