Blindness from glaucoma

Abstract

We observed an overall ratio of 8:1 for nonwhite to white primary glaucoma blindness. Our fragmentary evidence suggested that the ratio of underlying disease, that is, nonblinding glaucoma or intraocular pressure differentials, may be closer to 2:1 than 8:1 as between nonwhites and whites. The remaining four fold differential can be explained by a combination of the following: more complete reporting for nonwhites, reporting for medical care later in the disease than whites, and poorer response to treatment for nonwhites compared to whites. The trend of new blindness from glaucoma for recent years was stationary in the United States, England, and Wales.