Glaucoma Distribution in major Religious Communities of Rural Gangetic Delta

Aim: To study the pattern of glaucoma distribution among the patients in rural Gangetic Delta Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 1800 glaucoma patients was done, who were recruited by a door to door field survey and brought to a rural Base Eye Hospital in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India between January 2010 and December 2012 . The subtypes of glaucoma in different religious groups( mainly among Hindus and Muslims) along with the age and gender distribution were studied. Results: The mean age of the glaucoma patients was 54.6 years. Glaucoma was diagnosed in 972(54%) Muslim and in 632(35.1%) Hindu patients. The prevalence of POAG (35.0%) was close to that of PACG (33.1%). POAG was the most common type of glaucoma in males (15.2%), while PACG was very common among females (16.4%). In Hindu patients, POAG (42.4%) was the commonest form of glaucoma, while in Muslims, PACG (41.8%) was the highest form of glaucoma. Conclusion: Glaucoma distribution in the Muslim population is the highest among all religious groups of the rural Gangetic Delta .