Abstract

DO.22.07

The prevalence of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma and glaucoma suspects in Rhineland-Palatine

Christian Wolfram, Norbert Pfeiffer

Universitäts-Augenklinik Mainz

Objective
Epidemiologic data for eye diseases mostly arise from population-based studies which require costly ressources. Data on the distribution of eye diseases in Germany are therefore sparse. Case registries from the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (Kassenärztliche Vereinigung) may serve as an already existing data pool, that can be used in order to calculate disease prevalence rates as shown here for primary open-angle-glaucoma and glaucoma suspects.
Methods
Calculation of the prevalence for open-angle glaucoma and glaucoma suspects in different age-groups in the region of Rhineland-Palatine was performed. Case registries are used from the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Rhineland-Palatine in the year 2007 for POAG (H.40.1) and glaucoma suspects (H.40.0) according to ICD-10 classification. The data are then adjusted to the population size and compared in different age strata.
Results
Most glaucoma cases and glaucoma suspects are diagnosed in the age-group of 70 to 79 year old people. The proportion of manifest glaucoma increases in comparison to glaucoma suspects with age. Adjusted to the population size the estimated overall prevalence for POWG is 2.7 percent and 3.8 percent for glaucoma suspects in the population.
Conclusions

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