Glaucoma and cigarette smoking: a review of narrative reviews

Abstract

Background: Glaucoma is an optic neuropathy associated with visual field changes for which high intra-ocular pressure is a majorrisk factor. Emerging research indicates that modifiable factors, among which the cigarette smoke, besides IOP may be associated withthe presence of glaucoma.Objective: The objective of the study was to perform a review of narrative reviews to examine on the relationship between cigarettesmoking and glaucoma.Methods: The results of all narrative reviews in the scientific literature about glaucoma and tobacco smoking were analyzed. Aquality assessment was performed according to an easy and convenient tool for the quality assessment of narrative reviews forsystematic reviews (International Narrative Systematic assessment) the INSA tool. Literature searches were performed usingPubMed.Results: 20 studies about relation between glaucoma and smoke were collected, no restriction language was applied. 15 of thesestudies have been excluded. We selected among them 5 reviews. With the INSA tool we measured the quality of the 5 selectednarrative reviews. Studies that had a highest score with the INSA tool were two: A. Coleman et al. “Risk Factors for GlaucomaNeeding More Attention” and R. Salowe et al. “Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma in Individuals of African Descent: A Review of RiskFactors”.Conclusion: The narrative reviews analyzed underline that there is no definitive association between cigarette smoking.