Healthcare
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Updates Glaucoma Screening Recommendations
By American Academy of Family Physicians
Mar 30, 2005, 06:22

In a new Recommendation Statement and accompanying evidence review, the U.S. Preventive Service updates its 1996 recommendations for glaucoma screening, finding insufficient evidence to recommend for or against screening adults for glaucoma.

Despite some evidence that treatment to lower intraocular pressure may delay the progression of visual field deficits in some patients, a long-term health benefit of early recognition and treatment of glaucoma in preventing severe vision loss and disability in asymptomatic patients was not found. Thus, the new statement represents no change from the Task Force's 1996 recommendation.

In its recommendation, the Task Force notes that the potential benefits of screening and treatment must be weighed against the known harms, which include local eye irritation and an increased risk for cataracts.

Primary open-angle glaucoma, the most common type of glaucoma, is a leading cause of blindness and vision-related disability, affecting an estimated 2.5 million people in the United States.

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