Prevalence of glaucoma in the city of Novi Sad

Abstract

Introduction/Objective. Our study aimed to estimate the prevalence of glaucoma and its subtypes in the population of Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia, and provide the demographic and clinical analysis of glaucoma patients involved. Methods. Our study was designed as an observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, monocentric, including all the patients with the address of the residence within the city of Novi Sad, with clinically diagnosed glaucoma, at least in one eye, treated at the University Eye Clinic, Clinical Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad. We analyzed the five-year prevalence of different types of glaucoma, together with the characteristics of visual field and risk factors in the form of coexisting diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension. Results. Almost half of 3254 included patients (48.28%) were diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and its prevalence in the total population of Novi Sad was estimated to be 0.46%. The prevalence of the other glaucoma types was as follows: primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) 0.17%, secondary glaucoma 0.09%, pseudoexfoliation glaucoma 0.09%, normal-tension glaucoma 0.13%, pigmentary glaucoma 0.01%, and juvenile glaucoma 0.01%. In the population above 40 years of age, the prevalence of all glaucoma cases was 1.9%, while the prevalence of POAG was 0.93%, and the prevalence of PACG was 0.35%. Conclusion. Our study represents the first attempt to address the epidemiological problems of glaucoma in our region in a comprehensive, evidence-based way. The prevalence of various glaucoma types and observed age-specific prevalence trends were lower than those published by other authors involving comparable populations, and we offered several potential explanations for this in our paper.