Prevalence of glaucoma in hospitalized older adults with Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of glaucoma in older adults with dementia of the alzheimer's type (DAT).

METHODS

retrospective chart review: the prevalence of glaucoma was determined in older adults with a diagnosis of DAT or mixed dementia (DAT with vascular contribution) admitted to the geriatric and neurology units of the Centre hospitalier de l'université de Montréal and the hôpital Maisonneuve-rosemont between april 2008 and april 2009 (n=220; DAT group). they were matched for age and date of hospitalisation to the first 220 individuals without dementia (control group) recruited from other medical units in the same hospitals: gastroenterology, internal medicine or cardiology. a diagnosis of glaucoma was deemed positive if recorded in the chart or if there was a medication compatible with this diagnosis. Chi-square tests were used for between-group comparisons.

RESULTS

Subjects' age ranged from 66 to 101 years. the prevalence of glaucoma was 6.8% in our study population (n=30/440). glaucoma was significantly more prevalent in the DAT group (n= 21; 9.5%) than in the control group (n= 9; 4.1%) [χ₁² = 5.15; p = 0.023].

CONCLUSIONS

the prevalence of glaucoma was higher in a group of older adults with DAT than in a comparable control group. these results underscore the importance of providing regular eyecare for persons affected by DAT.