Nine RCTs published in 8 articles were included in the review with 2,152 participants (597 received latanoprost, 571 received brimonidine and the remainder received either timolol or betaxolol).
Quality scores ranged from 2 to 5 for all studies included in the meta-analysis.
At 3 months, latanoprost and brimonidine reduced IOP by 8.4 and 6.5 mm Hg, respectively (P = 0.004 latanoprost versus brimonidine).
At 6 months, latanoprost and brimonidine reduced IOP by 8.0 and 6.2 mm Hg, respectively (P = 0.045 latanoprost versus brimonidine).
At 3 months, approximately 83% of patients who received latanoprost were successfully treated (AUC 0.834) whereas 68% of patients who received brimonidine were successfully treated (AUC 0.675; P < 0.001).
At 6 months, approximately 82% of patients who received latanoprost were successfully treated (AUC 0.817) whereas 72% of patients who received brimonidine were successfully treated (AUC 0.715; P < 0.001).
Testing for heterogeneity revealed no statistically significant difference between either variances or effect sizes and no correlation was found between SS, QS and SO at either end point (3 or 6 months).