Prevalence Ratio of Primary Angle-Closure and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma in Asian Population: A Meta-Analysis and Multiple Meta-Regression Analysis.

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence ratio of primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in the Asian population.

Methods: Systematic searches of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases for population-based studies in Asia published until August 5, 2022. We conducted a meta-analysis for PACG to POAG prevalence ratio using inverse variance-weighted random-effects meta-analyses so as to combine the study-specific measures of association. Between-study outcome variation (i.e., heterogeneity) was quantified with the I2 statistic. The multiple meta-regression analyses were performed in order to further account for the reasons for heterogeneity.

Results: Twenty studies, with a total study population of 52,522 individuals, had been conducted in 13 countries. The pooled PACG to POAG prevalence ratio was 2.204 (95% confidence interval, 1.617-3.004) with high heterogeneity (p < 0.001). In multiple meta-regression model, prevalence of POAG is the most important predictor for heterogeneity (model importance, 0.954), followed continent (0.508), and publication year (0.222). For every additional elevation of POAG prevalence (i.e., increase of 1.0%), the PACG to POAG prevalence ratio is expected to rise by 0.471.

Conclusions: We estimated the pooled PACG to POAG prevalence ratio in the Asian population. The POAG prevalence is the most important factor to determine the PACG to POAG prevalence ratio.