Disease Burden of Glaucoma in China: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study

PURPOSE: To provide evidence for future strategies in preventing glaucomatous blindness by investigating the disease burden in terms of age, year, and gender from 1990 to 2019 in China. METHODS: The prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma in China were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 study. Age-standardized data is presented in comparison to China’s neighboring countries. RESULTS: From 1990 to 2019, the prevalent cases and DALYs number with glaucomatous blindness and vision loss increased by 129.53% and 67.29%, respectively. Overall, higher age-standardized prevalence and DALYs rate were detected in males than in females between 1990 and 2019, and people aged 60 to 89 years suffered from a higher DALY number than other age groups in 2019. Among the neighboring countries, China ranked from fourth in 1990 (88.52, 95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 74.62 to 103.24, per 100,000 population) to third in 2019 (71.14, 95% UI: 59.34 to 84.42, per 100,000 population) in age-standardized prevalence while from fourth in 1990 (10.13, 95% UI: 6.68 to 14.46, per 100,000 population) to sixth in 2019 (5.98, 95% UI: 4.14 to 8.42, per 100,000 population) in age-standardized DALYs. Compared with other GBD regions, the largest decrease in age-standardized DALY rate due to glaucoma was found in China (−40.87%, 95% UI: −43.97% to −37.82%). A higher percentage decrease in age-standardized prevalence was also found in China (−19.66%, 95% UI: −22.44% to −17.09%). CONCLUSION: Substantial increases in the prevalence of visual impairment and DALYs number of glaucoma were observed from 1990 to 2019. Efforts targeting glaucoma prevention and treatment in China are urgently required, especially for the elderly population and men.