Treatment delay had no effect on quality of life in early glaucoma trial

The absence or delay of treatment did not influence vision-targeted quality of life in a study of newly diagnosed glaucoma patients, according to a recent publication.

Leslie G. Hyman, PhD, and colleagues evaluated the effect of treatment and visual function on 250 patients with newly detected open-angle glaucoma who were enrolled in the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial. All patients were between 50 and 80 years old; 66% were women. Patients were randomized to receive either betaxolol plus laser trabeculoplasty in the eligible eye or eyes or to no initial treatment. They underwent ophthalmologic examinations every 3 months. At 3 and 6 years after initial randomization, patients filled out a translated version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire.

Of the 250 patients enrolled, 233 completed one questionnaire and 167 completed two. For the first questionnaire, composite scores were relatively high, the authors noted, and were similar for treated and untreated eyes. Self-reported lower scores were associated with lower visual acuity in the better eye (defined here as worse than 0.7) and nuclear lens opacity. Visual function scores were not associated with age, gender, visual field loss progression, IOP, cardiovascular disease or hypertension. A decrease in the composite scores between the two administrations was associated with larger decreases in visual acuity, female gender and older age at initial administration. Treatment or lack thereof was not associated with a change in health-related quality of life, the study authors said.

The study is published in the September issue of Ophthalmology.