Glaucoma in East Greenlandic Inuit--a population survey in Ittoqqortoormiit (Scoresbysund).

PURPOSE: To determine the prevalence of primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) in an isolated Greenlandic Inuit community and to examine the anatomical risk factors for this disease.

METHODS

All individuals aged > or =40 years were examined. Visual acuity, refractive error, anterior chamber depth (ACD), intraocular pressure (IOP), gonioscopy, and optic disc characteristics were recorded.

RESULTS

Seventy-nine individuals (65% response rate) were examined. Mean IOP was 12.0 mmHg. ACD was shallow and decreased with age and hypermetropia. ACD was deeper than observed in the same community in 1981 and another East Greenland population in 1970. Two subjects had definite PACG (2.5 %).

CONCLUSION

This is the first study to use applanation tonometry in a Greenland population and confirms a low IOP as found in other populations of Inuit and Mongolians. ACD measured in 1998 was deeper than in 1981 in the same community which may represent a cohort effect indicating a secular change.