Glaucoma epidemiology and demographics

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:  Rohan Bir Singh, M.B.B.S.[2]

## Overview[edit | edit source]

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. The global prevalence of glaucoma for population aged 40–80 years is 3.54%. The overall prevalence of OAG in the US population 40 years and older is estimated to be 1.86%, with 1.57 million white and 398,000 black persons affected. Acute angle-closure glaucoma has the highest incidence between the ages of 55 and 65 years, but it can also occur in young adults and has been reported in children as well.

## Epidemiology and Demographics[edit | edit source]

#### Prevalence[edit | edit source]

* The global prevalence of glaucoma for population aged 40–80 years is 3.54%.
* The estimated number of people with glaucoma worldwide was estimated to be 64.3 million, increasing to 76.0 million in 2020 and 111.8 million in 2040.[1]

* Glaucoma affects one in two hundred people aged fifty and younger and one in ten over the age of eighty.
* Worldwide, it is the second leading cause of blindness.[2]

### Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma[edit | edit source]

* The prevalence of POAG is highest in Africa - 4.20%.[1]
* The overall prevalence of OAG in the US population 40 years and older is estimated to be 1.86%, with 1.57 million white and 398,000 black persons affected.
* After applying race, age, and gender-specific rates to the US population as determined as per the 2010 US census, it was estimated that OAG affects 5.47 million US citizens.
* Due to the rapidly increasing size of the geriatric population, the number with OAG will increase by 50% to 3.36 million by 2020.

[3]

#### Age[edit | edit source]

* The Rotterdam and Barbados study, recorded a significant increase in the prevalence of glaucoma in older individuals, with persons in their 70s being generally 3 to 8 times higher than those for persons in their 40s.
* Various multiple population-based surveys have demonstrated higher prevalence of glaucoma in specific ethnic groups.[4][5]

Gender

* As per the Bayesian meta-regression model, men were more likely to have POAG than women, people of African ancestry were more likely to have POAG than people of European ancestry, and people living in urban areas were more likely to have POAG than those in rural areas.[1]

#### Race[edit | edit source]

* Among whites aged 40 years and older, a prevalence of between 1.1% and 2.1% has been reported based on population-based studies performed throughout the world.
* The prevalence among black persons and Latino persons is up to 4 times higher compared to the prevalence among whites.
* Black individuals are also at greater risk of blindness from POAG, and this risk increases with age: in persons aged 46-65 years, the likelihood of blindness from POAG is 15 times higher among blacks than that among whites.

### Primary Angle Closure Glaucoma[edit | edit source]

* The prevalence of PACG is highest in Asia - 1.09%[3]

#### Age[edit | edit source]

* The depth and volume of anterior chamber decrease with age.
* These changes predispose the eye to pupillary block and thus, the prevalence of angle-closure glaucoma with pupillary block increases with age.
* Acute angle-closure glaucoma has the highest incidence between the ages of 55 and 65 years, but it can also occur in young adults and has been reported in children as well.

#### Gender[edit | edit source]

* Acute angle-closure glaucoma has been reported more in women than in men, and several population-based surveys have shown that the women are at increased risk of angle-closure glaucoma.
* Studies of normal eyes have shown that women have shallower anterior chambers than men.

#### Race[edit | edit source]

* The prevalence of primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) varies among different racial and ethnic groups.
* The prevalence is estimated at 0.1%, in Caucasian populations in the United States and Europe.
* The Inuit populations from the Arctic regions have the highest-known prevalence of PACG about 20 to 40 times higher than that for Caucasian.
* The available data suggests that for most Asian population groups, the prevalence of PACG is between that for Caucasian and Inuit populations.
* The studies have shown that the prevalence of PACG among blacks is similar to that among whites, with most cases among this group being chronic variety.

#### Refraction[edit | edit source]

* PACG is typically associated with hyperopia, however, it may occur in eyes with any type of refractive error.
* The depth and volume of the anterior chamber are reduced in hyperopic eyes, thus predisposing them to PACG.

#### Inheritance[edit | edit source]

* The anatomical features of the eye that increase the risk to pupillary block.
* The lens position and lens thickness are hereditary traits.
* A more anterior position and greater lens thickness predispose a patient to glaucoma.

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yih-Chung Tham, Xiang Li, Tien Y. Wong, Harry A. Quigley, Tin Aung, Ching-Yu Cheng (2014). "Global Prevalence of Glaucoma and Projections of Glaucoma Burden through 2040". Ophthalmology. 121 (11): 2081–2090. doi:10.1016/j.ophtha.2014.05.013.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
2. ↑ "Glaucoma, Normal Tension, Susceptibility To." OMIM - Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. Accessed October 17, 2006.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Friedman DS, Wolfs RC, O'Colmain BJ, Klein BE, Taylor HR, West S, Leske MC, Mitchell P, Congdon N, Kempen J, Eye Diseases Prevalence Research Group (2004). "Prevalence of Open-Angle Glaucoma Among Adults in the United States". Arch Ophthalmol. 122 (4): 532–8. doi:10.1001/archopht.122.4.532. PMC 2798086. PMID 15078671.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
4. ↑ Dielemans, Ida; Vingerling, Johannes R.; Wolfs, Roger C.W.; Hofman, Albert; Grobbee, Diederick E.; de Jong, Paulus T.V.M. (1994). "The Prevalence of Primary Open-angle Glaucoma in a Population-based Study in The Netherlands". Ophthalmology. 101 (11): 1851–1855. doi:10.1016/S0161-6420(94)31090-6. ISSN 0161-6420.
5. ↑ Leske, M. Cristina (1994). "The Barbados Eye Study". Archives of Ophthalmology. 112 (6): 821. doi:10.1001/archopht.1994.01090180121046. ISSN 0003-9950.

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