Impact of bilateral open and closed-angle glaucoma on glaucoma-specific functioning in asians

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of bilateral primary glaucoma on glaucoma-specific functioning in Asians. Methods: Patients with bilateral primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) aged 40 years or above of Chinese ethnicity in Singapore were recruited. All underwent a comprehensive clinical assessment of glaucoma. Glaucoma was diagnosed with a standard criteria including optic disc abnormality and visual field defect. The Glaucoma Quality of Life-15, a glaucoma-specific questionnaire, was used to evaluate the impact of glaucoma, and Rasch analysis was used to validate the Glaucoma Quality of Life-15. Results: A total of 192 patients (mean±SD age, 65.73±17.6 y and 65.1% male) were recruited, of which 56.2% (n=108) and 43.8% (n=84) had POAG and PACG, respectively. Fifty-four (28.1%), 85 (44.3%), and 53 (27.6%) had bilateral mild glaucoma, mild glaucoma in 1 eye and moderate/severe glaucoma in the other, and bilateral moderate/severe glaucoma, respectively. In multivariate analyses, compared with patients with mild glaucoma in both eyes, those with (a) mild glaucoma in 1 eye and moderate/severe in other; and (b) moderate/severe glaucoma in both eyes, reported significantly poorer functioning (b-coefficient=-8.20; confidence interval,-14.36 to-2.04; P