Prevalence of simple and capsular glaucoma in the Central Hospital District of Kotka.

The observed total prevalences of simple and capsular glaucoma, based on hospital records in a district with a population of about 190,000 are presented. All open-angle glaucoma patients receiving glaucoma medication are included. The total combined prevalence of simple and capsular glaucoma in the population was 0.60. The prevalences of both simple and capsular glaucoma were almost the same, 0.32 and 0.28, respectively. 47% of the open-angle glaucoma patients had exfoliation syndrome. The prevalences are age-dependent with a maximum of 4.5% combined (2.1% simple, 2.4% capsular) in the age group of 75 to 84 years. The mean annual increase in the prevalence of open-angle glaucoma was nearly linear in the age groups 65 to 84 years (0.19%), being higher in the exfoliation syndrome group (0.11%) than in the simple glaucoma group (0.08%). The results are compared to some previous population surveys.