Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 3, 2025
Assessing Early Stage Open-Angle Glaucoma in Patients by Isolated-Check Visual Evoked Potential
Published on: May 25, 2020
Glaucomatous Visual Field Progression in the African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study (ADAGES): Eleven Years of
Bruna Melchior1, Ives A Valenzuela2, C Gustavo De Moraes2
1From the Bernard and Shirlee Brown Glaucoma Research Laboratory (B.M., I.A.V., G.D.M., G.A.C., J.M.L.), Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (B.M., J.S.P.), Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
Purpose:
To compare the rates of visual field (VF) progression between individuals of Black and White race and to investigate whether treatment effects may help explain differences previously reported between racial groups.
Design:
Multicenter prospective observational cohort study.
Methods:
Participants were patients in referral tertiary care glaucoma clinics with open angle glaucoma. Eyes were excluded who had <5 VF tests and <2 years of follow-up or any disease that could affect the optic nerve or the VF. The VF mean deviation (MD) slopes over time (dB/y) were calculated with linear regression models. Socioeconomic variables, rates of glaucoma surgery, medications, treated intraocular pressure (IOP), and central corneal thickness (CCT) were investigated.
Results:
A total of 516 eyes were included with a mean (95% CI) follow-up time of 11.0 (range, 10.5-11.5) years and 15.0 (range, 14.1-15.8) visits. Participants of Black race were significantly younger (59.7 vs 66.9 years, P < .01) than those of White race. The mean CCT and socioeconomic variables were similar between Black and White groups (P = 0.20 and P = .56, respectively), as were treatment with topical medications (P = .90) and the rate of VF MD change (-0.24 [-0.31 to -0.17] dB/year vs -0.32 [-0.36 to -0.27], P = .11), despite higher treated mean IOP (14.9 [14.5 to 15.4] vs 14.0 [13.6 to 14.4] mm Hg, P = .03) and fewer trabeculectomies (29.5% vs 50.0%, P < .01) in the Black race group.
Conclusions:
Rates of VF progression were similar despite higher treated IOP in the Black race group. Mitigation of health access disparities in this study may have equalized previously reported different rates of VF progression between racial groups.
