Screening First Degree Relatives of Persons with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma in India

Purpose: To report the results of screening first degree relatives of persons identified with primary open angle glaucoma in a tertiary eye hospital glaucoma services. Design: A cross-sectional study of first degree relatives of persons with primary open angle glaucoma. Materials and methods: First degree relatives of patients identified with primary open angle glaucoma were invited to participate in a screening evaluation in the base hospital to detect glaucoma. All participating individuals had comprehensive eye examination including vision screening, refraction, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, applanation tonometry, gonioscopy, frequency doubling peri-metry and dilated fundus examination. Persons with definite and suspected glaucoma were subject to full threshold automated perimetry. Results: A 514 first degree relatives of 346 persons with primary open angle glaucoma, of 4972 individuals who were invited to participate attended the screening examination (Response Rate 7%). Fifty-five percent of those who attended were males and mean age of participants was 56.8 years. Sixty-eight relatives (13.3% of those screened) were detected to have definite glaucoma. Sixty percent of those detected with definite glaucoma were siblings. Fifteen percent of siblings, 4% of off-springs and 20% of parents who attended the screening examination had definite open angle glaucoma. Conclusion: Prevalence of open angle glaucoma amongst first degree relatives of persons with glaucoma is higher than in the general population as reported in previous studies. Significant barriers, however, exist in the uptake of eye care services among relatives of persons known to have primary open angle glaucoma. How to cite this article: Rajendrababu S, Gupta N, Vijayakumar B, Kumaragurupari R, Krishnadas SR. Screening First Degree Relatives of Persons with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma in India. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2014;8(3):107-112.