Health fair glaucoma screening: follow-up evaluation

Glaucoma screening is a standard procedure at many health fairs. Information on correct screening techniques, instrumentation, and target populations has been available. However, a scarcity of information exists concerning the success of efforts to follow up on abnormal results. This study reports on the findings of a long-term (6-month) follow-up of all individuals with abnormal tonometric results screened at an inner-city osteopathic hospital. Of the 218 subjects screened, 15 were found to have abnormal tonometric results. Seven of the 15 subjects were actually reached at the 6-month follow-up interval. Four of the seven had not sought any further eye care; two had sought nonmedical evaluation; only one had sought medical ocular care, and that subject was later found to have glaucoma. The results presented in this article indicate that compliance by this population is inadequate. Inner-city participants require more education. We encourage physicians to promptly refer such patients for appropriate medical ocular care.