Glaucoomscreening tijdens een regulier bezoek aan een optiekbedrijf*

Objective

To determine the feasibility and specificity of glaucoma screening during regular optician visits.

Design

Four opticians offered glaucoma screening to 400 consecutive optician shop visitors aged 45 years and over.

Method

An intraocular pressure measurement and – in those with a pressure below 25 mmHg – a visual field screening test were performed. Visitors with an intraocular pressure of 25 mmHg or above or at least one reproducibly abnormal test location on the visual field screening test were referred to our hospital.

Results

A total of 88% of the visitors were screened. Of the 42 referrals (12%), 7 were diagnosed with glaucoma and 10 with ocular hypertension (OHT). Twelve did not have any eye disease. The specificity of the screening protocol was 91% (95% CI: 88-94).

Conclusion

Glaucoma screening during a regular visit to the optician shop was feasible but the specificity of the screening protocol was rather low. With more stringent cut-off points for the tests, the specificity could be improved to 96% (95% CI: 94-98), apparently without significant loss of sensitivity. This suggests that glaucoma screening during regular optician visits, as an addition to current detection of glaucoma patients, might be a viable approach.

Conflict of interest: declared. Financial support: the institute of Prof. N.M. Jansonius received grants from the Dutch Glaucoma Foundation and the Dutch Eye Foundation fir this study.