Y. B. Bajantri1, Rajashekar D.2, Madhuri Parande 3, Hemalatha A.4, Sneha Hegde5
BACKGROUND: Glaucoma is one of the important causes of irreversible preventable blindness which is largely preventable if diagnosis is made before irreparable damage to vision has occurred. Understanding the risk factors, early diagnosis and prompt treatment could save useful vision in glaucoma patients.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the risk factors associated with primary open angle glaucoma.
METHODS: This is a hospital based descriptive study done at Department of Ophthalmology, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli. 43 patients diagnosed with primary open angle glaucoma were enrolled into the study. Various risk factors of glaucoma were noted based on history and examination and data was compiled to obtain results
RESULTS: A total of 62 glaucomatous eyes of 43 patients were taken into analysis. Majority of patients (26; 60.46%) belonged to 51-70 age group. 95.35% were ≥40 yrs of age, 30.23% had diabetes, 27.91% hypertensive, 6.98% had family history, 11.63% were smokers and 2.32% were myopics. Mean IOP was 25.87 ± 8.4mmHg. Majority of eyes (28; 45.16%) had IOP of 21-30 mmHg
INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSION: Glaucoma related blindness is largely preventable through timely diagnosis, effective treatment and ongoing monitoring. Timely diagnosis - the first step - requires in depth knowledge of demographical aspects of glaucoma, namely the risk factors
