The Impact of Social Vulnerability on Structural and Functional Glaucoma Severity, Worsening, and Variability.

Purpose: To determine the associations between social vulnerability index (SVI) and baseline severity, worsening, and variability of glaucoma, as assessed by visual field (VF) and OCT.

Design: Retrospective longitudinal cohort study.

Participants: Adults with glaucoma or glaucoma suspect status in 1 or both eyes. Visual fields were derived from 7897 eyes from 4482 patients, while OCTs were derived from 6271 eyes from 3976 patients. All eyes had a minimum of 5 tests over follow-up using either the Humphrey Field Analyzer or the Cirrus HD-OCT.

Methods: Social vulnerability index, which measures neighborhood-level environmental factors, was linked to patients' addresses at the census tract level. Rates of change in mean deviation (MD) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness were computed using linear regression. The slope of the regression line was used to assess worsening, while the standard deviation of residuals was used as a measure of variability. Multivariable linear mixed-effects models were used to investigate the impact of SVI on baseline, worsening, and variability in both MD and RNFL. We further explored the interaction effect of mean intraocular pressure (IOP) and SVI on worsening in MD and RNFL.

Main Outcome Measures: Glaucoma severity defined based on baseline MD and RNFL thickness. Worsening defined as MD and RNFL slope. Variability defined as the standard deviation of the residuals obtained from MD and RNFL slopes.

Results: Increased (worse) SVI was significantly associated with worse baseline MD (β = -1.07 dB, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [-1.54, -0.60]), thicker baseline RNFL (β = 2.46 μm, 95% CI: [0.75, 4.17]), greater rates of RNFL loss (β = -0.12 μm, 95% CI: [-0.23, -0.02]), and greater VF variability (β = 0.16 dB, 95% CI: [0.07, 0.24]). Having worse SVI was associated with worse RNFL loss with increases in IOP (β = -0.07, 95% CI: [-0.12, -0.02]).

Conclusions: Increased SVI score is associated with worse functional (VF) loss at baseline, higher rates of structural (OCT) worsening over time, higher VF variability, and a greater effect of IOP on RNFL loss. Further studies are needed to enhance our understanding of these relationships and establish their cause.

Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.