Glaucoma affects over 380,000 Australians and it is estimated it will cost our healthcare and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) systems a staggering AU$4.3 billion this year.1 Anyone can develop glaucoma, but the risk increases with age. About one in 10,000 babies are born with it, by age 40 about one in 200 have it, rising to one in eight at age 80.2
In New Zealand, 2% of people over the age of 40 are affected by this blinding disease.3
Often referred to as the ‘sneak thief of sight’, people can irreversibly lose significant peripheral vision before they are even aware that they have glaucoma.
Yet this does not need to be the case.
With the right education, support, and treatment, most people with glaucoma will preserve their sight, which is why early detection and treatment adherence are critical to slow disease progression and vision loss.
This issue of mivision is dedicated to helping eye care professionals in Australia and New Zealand improve outcomes for their glaucoma patients.
It’s packed with diverse articles – from holistic approaches to reducing the risk of glaucoma progression to the latest technologies and treatments. We explore the logistics of effective collaborative care models, and new research that has identified tips for improving patient experiences with visual field testing. We also look at an Australian-developed visual field-testing platform making inroads on glaucoma detection in developing countries; as well as a new study on glaucoma prevalence in regional Australia, including key predictive factors for late presentation, especially among older populations.
On World Sight Day last year, we were immensely proud to have funded the brilliant researcher and care provider, Associate Professor Andrew White from the Centre for Vision Research at the Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR). Assoc Prof White and his team will commence a novel investigation hoping to better understand alternative, safer and more effective treatment options for those impacted by glaucoma. His work, funded by Glaucoma Australia and its generous supporter community, forms part of a 20-year investment in research through Glaucoma Australia’s Quinlivan Research Grant Programme.
We are delighted to have an article in this issue providing an evidence-based account of the mental health impacts of a glaucoma diagnosis and setting out useful communication strategies to help you support your patients in practice. Another article, written by our orthoptist patient educators Valerie Tosswill and Natasha Sikman, sets out how Glaucoma Australia and its Sightwise patient support programme can assist both you and your patients by providing education and support beyond the consulting room.
I urge you to refer your patients to Glaucoma Australia so that together we can continue to work to improve detection and treatment adherence rates, quality of life, and patient outcomes.
Adam Check
CEO, Glaucoma Australia
References
- Evaluate, Evaluate economic impact report commissioned by Glaucoma Australia, 28 March 2023.
- Glaucoma Australia, It Begins With You awareness initiative.
- Dirani M, Crowston JG, Taylor PS, et al. Economic impact of primary open-angle glaucoma in Australia. Clin Exp Ophthalmol 2011;39:623-32. doi: 10.1111/j.1442-9071.2011.02530.x.
