Glaucoma and Silent Vision Loss: Screening Prompts and Pharmacological Red Flags

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

1. Summarize key features of open-angle versus angle-closure glaucoma pathophysiology using mechanical and vascular frameworks.

2. Identify demographic and systemic screening prompts that warrant glaucoma risk escalation in asymptomatic patients.

3. Analyze medication classes associated with drug-induced angle closure or intraocular pressure elevation to support risk mitigation.

4. Develop a patient-centered monitoring and referral plan for glaucoma risk or therapy initiation that supports timely specialty referral (AOA Core Competency: Patient Care).

Glaucoma often progresses without early symptoms, which delays diagnosis and increases the risk of irreversible vision loss. This course prepares clinicians to recognize glaucoma risk earlier by using a risk-based framework that integrates key demographic factors, systemic screening prompts, and medication-related red flags that may raise intraocular pressure or precipitate angle-closure events. Learners will review open-angle and angle-closure mechanisms, including pressure-related and vascular contributors to optic nerve injury, and apply practical monitoring and referral approaches that support timely specialty evaluation.

The educational need for this activity is driven by persistent under-detection of glaucoma in routine care, since many patients are unaware of the disease in its early stages, and risk signals may be overlooked outside eye-care settings. This training addresses that gap by strengthening clinical recognition of high-risk profiles and medication triggers, and by supporting evidence-informed monitoring and referral decisions that can reduce avoidable delays in diagnosis and escalation of care.