Risk Factors for Open-angle Glaucoma: The Barbados Eye Study-Reply

In reply  We are pleased to comply with the request from Drs Sommer and Tielsch, who wonder whether the Barbados Eye Study data^1,2 support their hypothesis of a possible relationship between BP and (POAG).³ The suggestive evidence that elevated BP may be protective at younger ages and deleterious at older ages is based on race-adjusted odds ratios that were not statistically significant in the Baltimore Eye Survey.³ Detailed analyses of the Barbados Eye Study data, based on a larger number of POAG cases, do not provide support for this hypothesis. As seen in Table 4 of our report², the average systolic BP of the POAG group tended to be higher in men and women younger than 70 years of age, while it was lower in older women. These results, however, were not significant after age adjustment or in multivariate analyses. Further stratification by age continued to