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