To determine the changes in optical coherence tomography (OCT) color probability codes and diagnostic ability for peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) analysis after applying Chinese and white subjects normative databases.

Cross-sectional study.

This study enrolled 219 healthy eyes (108 white and 111 Chinese patients) to construct an ethnicity-specific normative database for pRNFL and macular GCC thickness, which was tested then in 180 eyes with or without glaucoma (102 white and 78 Chinese patients). The percent of change of color probability codes were evaluated after applying the original built-in and the ethnicity-specific normative databases, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated to evaluate the change in diagnostic ability to detect glaucoma.

Healthy white subjects had a thinner pRNFL than Chinese subjects in the overall average thickness as well as the superior, inferior, and temporal quadrants (P < .001). Macular GCC did not differ between ethnicities. After applying an ethnicity-specific normative database, the percent of pRNFL abnormal color code labels decreased significantly for the overall average thickness in the white subjects. This resulted in a significant increase in the specificity to detect glaucoma in the white population (P < .001). No significant changes were seen when applying an ethnicity-specific normative database for macular GCC thickness.

After applying an ethnicity-specific normative database, the percent of pRNFL abnormal color codes decreased significantly, improving the specificity to detect glaucoma in the white population. These findings suggest there may be utility in having ethnicity-specific normative databases for pRNFL thickness.