Prevalence and Characteristics of Glaucoma Among Patients Presenting to Ophthalmology Clinics in a Tertiary Hospital in the Kingdom of Bahrain

Introduction The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of glaucoma in patients presenting to the ophthalmology department in a tertiary hospital in Bahrain for the first time. Methods A retrospective study was conducted at the Salmaniya Medical Complex, Manama, Bahrain. The medical records of all patients who presented for the first time to an eye clinic between January and December 2019 were reviewed. Patients who were diagnosed with glaucoma were included in this study. Data regarding age, sex, ethnicity, type of glaucoma, previous treatment, best corrected visual acuity, cup -to -disc ratio, intraocular pressure, central corneal thickness, optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), and visual field findings were collected. Results Of a total of 18,238 new patients in 2019, 173 patients (0.97%) had glaucoma. The mean age of patients with glaucoma was 59.6 +/- 11.3 years and approximately 60% of them were males (n=103, 59.5%). In 93% of the cases, glaucoma involved both eyes (n=161). Primary open -angle glaucoma (n=97, 56.1%), normal tension glaucoma (n=28, 16.2%), and chronic angle closure glaucoma (n=15, 8.7%) were the most frequently encountered types of glaucoma. Approximately 16.76% (n=29) of the patients were blind in one or two eyes at the time of presentation. Conclusion There seems to be a low prevalence of glaucoma among the encountered cases on the first visit to ophthalmology clinics in Bahrain, with primary open -angle glaucoma being the most common type.