Habitual alcohol drinking poses increased glaucoma risk

Individuals with habitual alcohol consumption are at risk of developing open-angle glaucoma (OAG), according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Researchers accessed multiple online databases to search for studies that evaluated alcohol use in relation to the risk of ocular hypertension (OHT) or OAG among adults. The initial search yielded a total of 5,201 articles, of which 34 were included in the systematic review and 11 in the meta-analysis.

Ten studies, which involved a total of 27,452 participants, examined the relationship between alcohol drinking and ocular hypertension. Of these, six reported intraocular pressure (IOP) as a continuous outcome and evaluated OHT as an outcome. OHT was defined as IOP >21 mm Hg with no features of glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

The summarized evidence showed that habitual alcohol use was associated with elevated IOP and higher prevalence of OHT, although absolute effect sizes were small.

Meanwhile, 11 studies that comprised 173,058 participants assessed the relationship between alcohol use and OAG. Of these, seven reported associations with prevalent OAG and four with incident OAG. Primary OAG (POAG) was the outcome in seven of the studies.

Pooled data indicated a positive association between any use of alcohol and OAG (overall effect estimate, 1.18, 95 percent confidence interval, 1.02–1.36; p=0.03; I2, 40.5 percent), with similar estimates for both prevalent and incident OAG.

The certainty of evidence according to the overall GRADE criteria was very low.

While the findings suggest a harmful association between alcohol use and OAG, the researchers advised caution when interpreting them, given the weakness and heterogeneity of the underlying evidence base.