Prevalence, Awareness, and Risk Factors of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008-2011.

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence, awareness, and risk factors for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in the Korean population.

DESIGN

The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), a population-based cross-sectional study using a complex, stratified, multistage, probability-cluster survey.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 13,831 participants 40 years of age or older were included from the KNHANES database for the years 2008 through 2011.

METHODS

Glaucoma diagnosis was based on the International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology criteria. The prevalence of POAG and the proportion of POAG patients previously informed of the disease were calculated using KNHANES sample weights. Ocular and systemic factors were compared between the POAG and control groups. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the risk factors for POAG.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Weighted prevalence, awareness, and risk factors for POAG.

RESULTS

The prevalence of POAG in the Korean population was 4.7% (95% confidence interval, 4.2-5.1): 5.5% in men and 3.9% in women, respectively, which increased with age (P < 0.001). The mean intraocular pressure (IOP) in POAG eyes was 15.0±0.4 mmHg, which was higher than that of the control group (14.0±0.1 mmHg; P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that older age (P < 0.001), male gender (P < 0.001), higher IOP (P < 0.001), myopia (P < 0.001), hypertension (P = 0.031), and nonoverweight status (P = 0.017) were associated significantly with POAG in the Korean population. Among the 710 study participants diagnosed with POAG, only 8.0% were aware of the disease.

CONCLUSIONS

This was the first study to examine the prevalence, awareness, and risk factors of POAG in the Korean population using 4-year KNHANES data. Koreans with higher IOP, myopia, older age, male gender, hypertension, and nonoverweight status require more attention and support from the glaucoma screening and surveillance systems.