Tonometry (Glaucoma Screening)
Last reviewed 25 August 2026 · Evidence-graded review — see Methodology
The puff-of-air test, included in most executive packages as a “glaucoma screen”. Glaucoma is a serious cause of irreversible blindness and treatment genuinely works — but eye pressure on its own is a poor way to find it, because a large share of people with glaucoma have normal pressure and most people with raised pressure never develop the disease.
Mangione CM, Barry MJ, et al. (US Preventive Services Task Force) “Screening for Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.” JAMA 2022;327:1992–1997 concludes that current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening asymptomatic adults (Grade I). Read carefully, that is a statement about a pressure reading taken in a primary-care setting — not about eye care. A proper examination with optic disc assessment and visual fields is a different and better thing than the number this test produces.
Mangione CM, et al. JAMA. 2022. PubMed: PMID 35608574
Singapore guidance
Not covered in the current review
Singapore’s national screening committee has not reviewed this test in the current volume of its report, which covers nine conditions. That is not a verdict either way.
Source: Screening Test Review Committee report 2026, Volume 1 (Academy of Medicine Singapore and Ministry of Health, February 2026). The full national list · How this is used.
What you would actually pay
- Healthier SG
- Not subsidised
- MediSave
- Not among the screenings named for outpatient claims
Source: Healthier SG Screening (HealthHub) and MediSave outpatient care (Ministry of Health). Absence from either list is not a statement that the test is discouraged — only that no subsidy or claim applies. Gross prices compared.
What it costs when it is wrong
- Basis
- No published harm criterion found
- Severity
- Not documented
Not covered in the current volume of the committee’s report, so no harm criterion was found either way.
An empty finding, not a clean bill of health: this means nothing documented was found for this test. It is not a claim that the test is safe.
Screening harm is not only a laboratory question: the committee’s own criteria advise against a test when “the screening test, or follow-up tests arising from a positive screen, are associated with significant medical risks”. Sources on overdiagnosis → · How this is graded.
FAQ
Is the Tonometry (Glaucoma Screening) worth doing in Singapore?
Tonometry (Glaucoma Screening) holds a weak evidence grade under our screening rubric. It typically costs S$20–50 in Singapore. It is most appropriate for not a substitute for an eye examination. Higher-risk adults — family history, African ancestry, over 60 — should see an ophthalmologist. It is not established as a package screen; follow the eye examination schedule an optometrist or ophthalmologist advises instead.
Weighing this against something else? Compare it with two other tests → · Price it inside a panel →