Aspects of Tertiary Prevention in Patients with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to assess the health of patients in the activity of tertiary prevention dedicated to preventing blindness caused by POAG (primary glaucoma with open angle and high tension) and NTG (primary glaucoma with open-angle and statistically normal tension—particular form of glaucoma with open angle) and preservation of the remaining visual function. The design of the study is epidemiological, observational, descriptive and retrospective, and uses only the data recorded in the existing records in the archives of the Ophthalmology office within the Integrated Outpatient Clinic of the Emergency Clinical Hospital of Oradea (IOCECHO) during the years 1999–2019 (anamnestic data; objective examination and paraclinical examination: intraocular pressure—IOP and visual field—VF). The methods of the study included the standardized protocol: anamnesis, physical ophthalmological examination, IOP determination, and computerized perimetry with the “Fast Threshold” strategy performed with the “Opto AP-300” perimeter. The obtained results were statistically processed with a specialized software (S.P.S.S.—I.B.M. Statistics version 22). The study examined the available data of 522 patients of which 140 were men (26.8%) and 382 were women (73.2%). The gender ratio was 0.37. In the period 1999–2019, 150,844 people with ophthalmic pathology were consulted in the Ophthalmology office of IOCECHO out of which 522 patients (0.35%) were diagnosed with primitive open-angle glaucoma, 184 people (35.2%) presented high IOP (POAG), and 338 people (64.8%) had statistically normal IOP (NTG). The annual proportion of cases diagnosed with glaucoma in the total number of patients examined was between 0.1% (2005; 2008; 2010) and 2.4% in 2012, when 101 people were detected. In the studied records, no cases of uni- and/or bilateral blindness were mentioned. The mean age of glaucoma patients at the first consultation was 60.81 ± 12.14 years with high frequencies in the 55–69 age groups and at the last consultation it was 66.10 ± 12.47 years with high frequencies in the age groups between 60–74 years. Monitoring and treatment of glaucoma patients was beneficial; IOP decreased statistically significantly: in patients with POAG by 46.16%, from 30.50 ± 7.98 mmHg to 16.42 ± 3.01 mmHg (p = 0.000) and in those with NTG by 17.44%, at 16.39 ± 3.66 mmHg at 13.53 ± 1.92 mmHG (p = 0.000). The duration of treatment and monitoring was on average 5.1 ± 3.4 years, for 184 patients (35.2%) with POAG and 5.1 ± 3.8 years for 338 patients (64.8%) with NTG. Tertiary prevention of glaucoma, by providing specialized care, ensures effective control of IOP and implicitly of the long-term evolution of the disease. IOP is the only modifiable risk factor in patients with POAG and NTG and its decrease prevents the progression of the disease and emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis and treatment. The management of the glaucoma patient consisted of: complete ophthalmological examination (subjective and objective), paraclinical examination with IOP, and VF measurement (valuable ophthalmological diagnostic tool) for disease detection and effective assessment of disease progression in order to improve the process of therapeutic decision making.