A community based study of scenario of glaucoma in Aligarh, India

ABSTRACT

Background: Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and is second only to cataracts as the most common cause of blindness overall. In the developing world, the prevalence of glaucoma is expected to rise even more dramatically as the population of adults has doubled within a span of few decades. So this study was done with an objective of finding out the prevalence of glaucoma among adults aged 40 years and above in the field practice area of the Department of Community Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out for the duration of one year. A total of 680 persons were interviewed and examined by a trained ophthalmologist for detailed eye examination including visual acuity, refraction and slit-lamp bio-microscopy, intraocular pressure (IOP) by Keeler Pulsair non-contact tonometer confirm by applanation tonometry, gonioscopy, and dilated fundus examination after ruling out the risk of angle closure. Anderson criteria were used to diagnose glaucomatous visual field defect.Results: In our study population, the IOP of the majority of population lied in 11-15 mm Hg with a mean IOP of 13.42±4.09 mmHg. In regard to optic disc examination, a cup to disc ratio of >0.6 was found in 35 eyes. According to the predefined criteria, a total of 31 subjects were diagnosed as glaucoma in either one or both eyes. The overall prevalence of glaucoma was found to be 4.6% (31/680), with the prevalence of primary open angle glaucoma, primary angle closure glaucoma, normotensive glaucoma and secondary glaucoma as 1.3%, 1.2%, 1.2% and 0.9% respectively.Conclusions: The prevalence of glaucoma is quite high in an elder population of Aligarh. This should warrant more intensive activities, focusing not only on early diagnosis and management of glaucoma but also include strengthening preventive ophthalmic care.