Ask An Expert: Glaucoma Testing

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Ask An Expert: Glaucoma Testing

Question:

How often should I be tested for glaucoma?

Answer:

How frequently you should be screened for glaucoma depends on:

Your personal health history
Your family medical history
The results of your previous eye exams.

If there were a family history of glaucoma, especially in a sibling, I would recommend a yearly eye examination.

If previous eye examinations have shown borderline pressure elevations, suspicious changes in the optic nerve or worrisome appearances of the front of the eye, glaucoma testing should be done at least once every year and perhaps every six months.

If you are an African-American or have diabetes, yearly exams also are indicated.

If nothing in your makeup or history is worrisome, based on the items listed above, then testing once every two years is appropriate.

Don Bienfang, M.D, is an assistant professor of ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School and the Senior Surgeon in the Department of Surgery and Chief of Neuro-Ophthalmology in the Department of Neurology at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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Last updated:	January 24, 2007

Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.

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