Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Glaucoma Suspects in a Tertiary Care Center of Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the demographic characteristics of Glaucoma Suspects (GS) presenting to the glaucoma clinic in a tertiary care settings. Study Design: Descriptive observational study. Place & Duration of Study: Glaucoma clinic of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, from September 2015 to February 2016. Methods: Patients attending the glaucoma clinic were examined and intraocular pressure (IOP), iridocorneal angles, anterior and posterior segments evaluation, vertical cup-to-disc ratio (vCDR) were measured. Retinal nerve fiber (RNFL-Global) thickness was calculated by the Optical Coherence tomography machine using software version 6.0.9. Subjects qualifying as glaucoma suspects were interviewed for demographic and systemic conditions. All the information was recorded on a predesigned proforma and descriptive statistics was used for analysis. Results: A total of 876 patients were examined. Eighty-two (9.36%) patients fulfilled the criteria of GS. There were 57.3% females and mean age of sample was 56.78 ± 12.83 (Range 40 – 70 years). Hypertension was found in 34.1% (n = 28) and diabetes in 25.6% (n = 21). Other diseases were asthma, depression, cardiac and gastric problems. Most of the patients belonged to lower or upper lower class, which represents a huge number on socioeconomic status scale. Mean IOP (both eyes) was 13.93 ± 3.23 mmHg (range 6 – 22 mmHg). Only 5% of subjects had vCDR of > 0.8.RNFL-Global of 79 (48.2%) eyes were within normal limits. Conclusions: Majority of GS belong to lower or lower middle socioeconomic class. The health authorities must focus on this issue to provide easily accessible diagnostic facilities for reducing the economic burden of this problem.