Aims To investigate if eyes presenting intraocular pressure (IOP) within the limits of current guideline-driven target IOP indeed experience slow rates of glaucomatous visual field (VF) progression.

Methods A total of 8598 24-2 VF tests from 603 eyes from the African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study with manifest glaucoma were included. The sample was split into three groups based on baseline VF mean deviation (MD): G1 (better than −5.0 dB), G2 (−5.0 to −10 dB) and G3 (worse than −10 dB). We investigated the relationship between existing target IOP guidelines and rates of MD progression in these groups.

Results For stable eyes, the medians and IQR of the mean follow-up IOP were G1=15.0 mmHg (IQR: 13.1 to 17.7), G2=13.2 mmHg (IQR: 11.6 to 14.3) and G3=11.9 mmHg (IQR: 10.1 to 13.8) (p<0.01). When considering the mean follow-up IOP within the limits proposed by current guidelines, the median MD slopes were: −0.20 dB/y (IQR: −0.43 to −0.02) for G1<21 mmHg, −0.19 dB/y (IQR: −0.51 to −0.01) for G2<18 mmHg and −0.15 dB/y (IQR: −0.47 to 0.05) for G3<15 mmHg (p=0.63). There were no significant differences between racial groups.

Conclusion In a sample of patients with manifest glaucoma, despite substantial variability between eyes, adherence to treatment guidelines helped slow the rates of global VF progression at various stages of disease.

Trial registration number clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00221923.