Treatment rates for glaucoma and intraocular hypertension in the United Kingdom, 2000-2019

Abstract

Abstract Background/Aims: To quantify treatment for glaucoma (GLC) and intraocular hypertension (IOH) in the UK. Materials and Methods: Using data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD, we calculated crude and age-standardised treatment incidence rates (AS-TIR) and treatment prevalence for GLC and/or IOH in adult patients between 2000 and 2019. We assessed person-time of patients at risk of treatment for GLC-IOH and the number of incident cases with treatment for GLC-IOH (i.e., at least two documented prescriptions of antiglaucoma medication or glaucoma surgery), stratified by age, sex, year of diagnosis, and region. Results: We identified 107,215 cases with incident treatment for GLC-IOH in 79.2 million person-years (py) from 2000 to 2019. The AS-TIR for GLC-IOH per 100,000 py (95%CI) remained fairly stable: 123.66 (120.45-126.88) to 142.11 (138.71-145.51) cases per 100,000 py. It sharply increased with age (highest incidence at 80-89 years, average 606.77 (598.78-614.75) per 100,000 py). We observed a preponderance of female cases after the age of 70 years. The incidence treatment rates for GLC-IOH was highest in London, England and Wales, and 20-30% lower in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The treatment prevalence for GLC-IOH increased by 32.7% from 1.19% (1.12-1.27%) to 1.58% (1.50-1.67%). It was highest in the elderly >80 years: 9.4 to 12% had treatment for GLC-IOH. Conclusion: In our large nationwide study in the UK, the overall treatment incidence rates for GLC-IOH remained almost stable from the year 2000 to 2019. However, the treatment prevalence increased by one third. Results differed across regions of the UK.