Purpose To describe prevalence, life-time prevalence and incidence of glaucoma in Norway over a 15-year period. Materials and methods Data from The Norwegian Prescription Database was used to identify all prescriptions for glaucoma medication during the period 2004 to 2018. Population figures and lifespan data were obtained from The National Bureau of Statistics. Results Of a population of 5.3 million, a total of 75733 patients using glaucoma eye drops were identified in 2018. The national prevalence was thus 1.4%, whilst in those over 70 years of age, 8.0%. When divided into counties, the prevalence varied between 1.1 and 1.9%. Overall, the prevalence was stable in the period 2004–2018. Life time prevalence was found to be 9.4% for men and 10.2% for women. National one-year incidence proportion per 10000 was 17.0 for the total population and a peak incidence of 93.8/10000 in the 80–89 year age group was identified. Conclusions Glaucoma prevalence remained stable during the period 2004–2018, while incidence decreased slightly in the elderly population.

PurposeA comparison of the safety and efficacy of the MicroShunt versus trabeculectomy in the early postoperative period, with a particular focus on hypotony.MethodsIn this registry study, we evaluated 200 eyes of 200 glaucoma patients who underwent filtration surgery at Oslo University Hospital between 2017 and 2021. Of these patients, 100 had a Preserflo MicroShunt (Santen) implantation and 100 had a trabeculectomy procedure. The patients were examined per standard hospital protocol after filtration surgery. Data were extracted from the 4‐ and 8‐week visits. We defined hypotony as intraocular pressure (IOP) < 6 mmHg.ResultsThe mean preoperative IOP was 20.6 ± 7.1 mmHg in the MicroShunt group and 21.6 ± 7.1 mmHg in the trabeculectomy group, and the patients used a mean of 3.0 ± 0.9 and 3.1 ± 0.9 glaucoma medications, respectively. After 8 weeks, IOP was reduced to 10.4 ± 5.4 mmHg and 11.3 ± 4.6 mmHg, respectively (p = 0.23). During the early postoperative period, hypotony was registered in 63% of the MicroShunt patients and in 21% of the patients in the trabeculectomy group (p < 0.001); and 11% and 1%, respectively, of the patients developed choroidal detachments (p < 0.003). One patient in the MicroShunt group required reoperation due to hypotony.ConclusionsIn this registry study, we found that the Preserflo MicroShunt and trabeculectomy had equally satisfactory IOP‐lowering effects during the early postoperative period. In this same period, a high number of patients in the MicroShunt group developed hypotony.

Purpose The relationship between supply and demand in health-care is a challenge. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate to what extent glaucoma prevalence is influenced by local access to eye health-care service in Norway. Methods Population-based cross-sectional study. Data from The Norwegian Prescription Database was used to find the number of users of topical glaucoma medication, grouped by age and county, giving an estimate of glaucoma prevalence. The number of registered ophthalmologists and opticians was obtained from The Norwegian Society of Ophthalmologists and The Norwegian Directorate of Health. Results In total, 75733 persons were treated with IOP-lowering drugs in Norway in 2018, suggesting an overall glaucoma prevalence of 1.43%. In the age group 70-89 years, the nationwide prevalence was 7.60%, the lowest prevalence being in Oppland (5.98%) and highest in Aust-Agder (9.28%) counties. The number of ophthalmologists per 100000 inhabitants varied from 2.63 to 14.65 in the various counties. A statistically significant correlation was found between glaucoma prevalence in the age group 70-89 years and access to ophthalmological services. Furthermore, the increase in glaucoma prevalence plateaus at roughly 10 ophthalmologists per 100000 inhabitants, indicating that this could cover population demands. This relationship did not apply for opticians. Conclusions There is a clear correlation between glaucoma prevalence and availability of ophthalmologists in various counties in Norway. Our study indicates a direct relationship between the number of ophthalmologists in the area and the number of people being treated for glaucoma, with prevalence plateauing once a threshold of approximately 10 ophthalmologists per 100000 inhabitants is reached. This finding suggests that low glaucoma prevalence in some regions could be due to limited access to ophthalmological services.

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