Glaucoma unlikely to affect cognitive function in older adults

There appears to be at most a weak interaction between glaucoma and cognitive function among older adults, reports a recent study.

Drawing from the Health and Retirement Study, the researchers evaluated 1,344 patients with prevalent glaucoma. Using the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS), they found no significant difference in cognitive function scores in these patients as compared with 5,729 controls (β, 0.01, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], –0.15 to 0.18; p=0.86).

In contrast, TICS differed slightly but significantly between patients with incident glaucoma (n=886) vs controls (n=4,385; β, –0.29, 95 percent CI, –0.50 to –0.08; p=0.007).

Nevertheless, linear mixed modelling with an additional time interaction factor found that incident glaucoma was not significantly associated with the per-year change in TICS scores. Prevalent glaucoma was likewise unrelated to the annual variations in cognition.

Similarly, stratifying according to different types of glaucoma (primary open angle, normal tension, or other forms) did not reveal significant interactions between prevalent or incident glaucoma and TICS.

“Despite previous research to characterize the association of glaucoma with cognitive function, the present study suggests that such an association may be small or absent,” the researchers said.

“Compared to prior studies on this topic, this investigation provides robust evidence based on its larger sample size, longitudinal follow-up, and repeated measures of cognitive function in a population-based sample,” they added.