Influence of Family History as a Risk Factor on Primary Angle Closure and Primary Open Angle Glaucoma in a Chinese population

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the likelihood of family history as a risk factor for the presence and severity of primary angle closure (PAC) and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) in a Chinese population.

Methods: All participants were asked to complete a questionnaire and undergo a comprehensive eye examination. Past history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperopia, high myopia, and family history of glaucoma were recorded. For those patients with a family history of glaucoma, the relationship between the patient and the affected relatives has been specified.

Results: A total of 332 PAC patients, 228 POAG patients and 193 controls were included. Of the 332 PAC patients, 83 (25.00%) had glaucoma family history. Characteristic-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of family history for PAC was 4.82 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.08–11.19] and for severity of PAC was 1.61 (95% CI: 1.05–2.49). Among first-relatives only parents account for the family history rate of PAC [OR 8.76 (95% CI: 2.00–38.32)]. Of the 228 POAG patients, 49 (21.49%) had a family history of glaucoma. Odds ratio for POAG was 8.38 (95% CI: 3.33–21.07) and for severity of POAG was 1.81 (95% CI: 1.05–3.14). Unlike patients with PAC, only siblings and offspring account for the family history rate of POAG [OR 8.99 (95% CI: 2.38–33.99) and OR 19.23 (95% CI: 1.53–241.24) respectively].

Conclusion: Our study showed that a family history of glaucoma is associated with the presence and severity of PAC and POAG. This supports the finding that screening first-degree relatives will be an effective way to detect glaucoma in a population.

KEYWORDS::

• Family history
• Risk factor
• Primary angle-closure glaucoma
• Primary open angle glaucoma
• first-degree relatives

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are grateful to Prof. Jian Gao for his precious help during the statistical process and to Dr Miguel Risco for the English modification of the manuscript.

Financial support: The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (No. 30901647).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.