Prevalence of Open-angle Glaucoma in Southwestern China： the Yongchuan Glaucoma Study

• Published in: Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Medical sciences Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 137 - 141
• Main Author: 李华 张永烨 刘世纯 贺翔鸽 李崇金 李春华 李革 徐霁 邬羽飞 宋胜仿
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2014; Department of Ophthalmology, Yongchuan Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 402160, China%Department of Ophthalmology, Daping Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China%Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
• Subjects: Aged; Blindness - diagnosis; Blindness - epidemiology; China - epidemiology; Female; Glaucoma, Open-Angle - diagnosis; Glaucoma, Open-Angle - epidemiology; Glaucoma, Open-Angle - physiopathology; Gonioscopy - methods; Health Surveys - methods; Health Surveys - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Intraocular Pressure; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Prevalence; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vision Disorders - diagnosis; Vision Disorders - epidemiology; 中国西南地区; 中国西部地区; 患病率; 整群抽样; 眼科检查; 随机抽取; 随机选择; 青光眼; China; primary open-angle glaucoma; prevalence, blindness; prevalence,blindness
• ISSN: 1672-0733; 1993-1352
• DOI: 10.1007/s11596-014-1245-9

This study examined the prevalence of primary open-angle glaucoma（POAG） among residents aged ≥50 years living in Yongchuan district of Chongqing. Stratified cluster sampling was employed in random selection to estimate the prevalence of glaucoma from April to June, 2005. Twenty-nine villages or neighborhood communities were randomly selected in urban area（Zhongshan Road）, suburban area（Shanjiao Town） and exurban area（Zhutuo Town） of this district. All the respondents underwent detailed ophthalmic examinations. The examinations included questionnaire investigation, visual acuity test, naked-eye examination, measurement of peripheral anterior chamber depth（Van Herrick＇s technique）, detection of intraocluar pressure（IOP） with a Perkins hand-held applanation tonometer（HA-2） and examination of the optic disc by using a 78 diopters（D） lens（including the cup-disc ratio, cup/disc ratio asymmetries, horizontal and vertical diameter, notching and optic disc hemorrhages）. A total of 5938 residents were actually examined, and the response rate was 85.19%. The crude prevalence of POAG was 0.86%（n=51/5938, 95% CI 0.64%–1.11%）. There were 24 males and 27 females in the glaucoma group. The glaucoma prevalence was not significant different in case number between the male and female subjects（P=0.4900）. Furthermore, no association between age or schooling and POAG was noted（P=0.8030, 0.0734）. Out of 51 subjects with POAG, unilateral glaucoma-related blindness occurred in 38 subjects（74.5%） and bilateral glaucoma-related blindness was found in 7 subjects（13.7%）. This study exhibited that the prevalence of POAG was 0.86% among residents aged ≥50 years living in Yongchuan District of Chongqing. The vision loss caused by POAG in this population was obviously higher than that previously reported in other studies. Glaucoma management, detection of affected persons and handling of the burden of glaucoma should be the priorities of the agenda of local health authorities of Western China.