Table 1

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients included in the study

CharacteristicsAll patients (n=511)
Gender, n (%)
Female228 (44.6)
Male283 (55.4)
Age, years, range, mean (SD)26–92, 67.6 (12.4)
Ethnicity*
White273 (53.4)
Black/black British154 (30.1)
Asian/Asian British49 (9.6)
Mixed11 (2.2)
Others24 (4.7)
Marital status, n (%)
Widowed54 (10.6)
Married305 (59.7)
Civil partnered, including separated18 (3.5)
Divorced51 (10.0)
Single83 (16.2)
Education, n (%)
College215 (42.1)
A level42 (8.2)
O level61 (11.9)
CSE21 (4.1)
NVQ40 (7.8)
Other professional qualifications65 (12.7)
None of the above67 (13.1)
Employment, n (%)
In paid employment173 (33.9)
Retired295 (57.7)
Looking after home11 (2.2)
Unable to work due to sickness8 (1.6)
Doing unpaid work5 (1.0)
Full-time/part-time student7 (1.4)
Unemployed7 (1.4)
None of the above5 (1.0)
Income†, n (%)
<£18 000233 (45.6)
£18 000–£30 999129 (25.2)
£31 000–£51 99983 (16.2)
£52 000–£100 00046 (9.0)
>£100 00020 (3.9)
Duration of living with glaucoma, years, range, mean (SD)0.1–34.7, 8.5 (7.3)
Current intraocular pressure, mm Hg, range, mean (SD)
Better eye4–49, 17.3 (5.3)
Worse eye2–44, 17.1 (6.2)
Current MD, dB, range, mean (SD)‡
Better eye−28.5 to 3.59, −3.94 (5.94)
Worse eye−33.5 to 2.14, −9.19 (8.16)
MD change rate, dB/year, range, mean (SD)§
Better eye−1.29 to 2.09, 0.0 (0.24)
Worse eye−0.77 to 1.45, −0.02 (1.8)
Visual acuity baseline, logMAR mean (SD)
Better eye−0.3 to 2.4, 0.15 (0.36)
Worse eye−0.3 to 2.4, 0.20 (0.32)
Glaucoma medication, range, mean (SD)
Number of glaucoma medications used by patient (current)¶0–4, 1.32 (0.98)
Number of instillations (current)**0–8, 2.67 (2.19)
Medication escalation over previous 18 months††−3 to 17, 0.62 (1.89)
Medication escalation over previous 5 years‡‡−4 to 19, 1.61 (2.63)
Laser procedures, median (range)
Number of SLT per patient0 (0–5)
Surgery procedures, median (range)
Number of surgery per patient0 (0–5)
Most recent surgical procedure, n (%)
Nil335 (65.6)
Trabeculectomy69 (13.5)
Shunt18 (3.5)
MIGS26 (5.1)
Other glaucoma procedures4 (0.8)
Phacoemulsification59 (11.5)
Maximum glaucoma therapy§§, better eye, n (%)
Surgery104 (20.4)
Laser101 (19.8)
Drops306 (59.9)
Maximum glaucoma therapy§§, worse eye, n (%)
Surgery146 (28.6)
Laser108 (21.1)
Drops257 (50.3)
  • *Ethnicity as per National Health Service categories: white (British, Irish, any other white background), black or black British (Caribbean, African, another black background), Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, any other Asian background), mixed (white and black Caribbean, white and black African, white and Asian, any other mixed background), other ethnic groups including Chinese.

  • †Average total household income before tax (£) based on UK Biobank classification.

  • ‡Calculated as mean from the two most recent visual field tests within 18 months prior to recruitment.

  • §Calculated using linear regression of all visual field tests within 60 months prior to recruitment.

  • ¶Number of glaucoma medications is number of drugs used by patient.

  • **Sum total of drop preparations used for each eye.

  • ††Cumulative number of drug escalations over 18 months prior to recruitment.

  • ‡‡Cumulative number of drug escalations over 5 years prior to recruitment.

  • §§Maximum glaucoma therapy is defined by invasiveness. Drops were considered to be the least invasive treatment and glaucoma surgery of any kind was considered to be the most invasive.

  • CSE, Certificate of Secondary Education; LogMAR, logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution; MD, mean deviation; MIGS, minimally invasive glaucoma surgery; NVQ, National Vocational Qualification; SLT, selective laser trabeculoplasty.