Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of visual impairment worldwide.1 The most common type, primary open-angle glaucoma (OAG), is especially prevalent in populations of African origin, in which it is the foremost cause of blindness.2-5 In addition to its impact on vision and quality of life, this age-related ocular disease may have other consequences, such as an increased risk of premature mortality. Several recent studies, mainly in white populations, have attempted to determine if persons with glaucoma or high intraocular pressure (IOP) have excess mortality.6-13 While some of these reports suggest that high IOPS are associated with decreased survival,6,7,13 others have found no association,8-12 leading to uncertainty regarding the mortality risk of those affected with the disease.14 Information on the relationship between glaucoma and risk of death has particular clinical and public health importance in black populations, which have high rates of chronic disease mortality, higher IOPs, and much higher prevalence/incidence of OAG than white populations.2,3,15-17 To the best of our knowledge, no long-term data exist on mortality and glaucoma/ocular hypertension in persons of African descent. The 4-year follow-up of the predominantly black participants of the Barbados Eye Studies indicated similar mortality rates for persons with and without OAG, especially among those aged 60 years or older.18 Our study extends these observations by evaluating possible relationships between OAG at baseline and subsequent mortality in black participants in this cohort after 9 years of follow-up.