Glaucoma screening in the elderly.
Glaucoma is a major cause of visual loss in the elderly and early identification and adequate treatment at least delay progression and reduce visual morbidity. Screening the elderly for chronic simple glaucoma is most required to identify those patients at risk and allow their referral to an ophthalmologist. Screening methods involving checks on intra-ocular pressure, visual field and the optic disc are discussed. It is suggested that, if these were carried out, many glaucoma patients would be discovered amongst the elderly population and with effective treatment ophthalmologists would have progressed a long way towards the aim of preventing blindness occurring from this disease.
D000368:Aged; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening