The study published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science aimed to uncover a relationship between coffee drinking and the eye condition that can lead to blindness.
Almost 79,000 women and more than 41,000 men aged 40 and above were enlisted in the US study.
Lead researcher Jae Hee Kang explained that the idea arose from the revelation that Scandinavian populations have both the highest frequencies of exfoliation glaucoma and caffeinated coffee consumption in the world.
He added: "Our research group has previously found that greater caffeinated coffee intake was associated with increased risk of primary open-angle glaucoma."
Participants, who did not have glaucoma, were questioned about their caffeine drinking habits and scientists reviewed their medical records to determine incident cases of exfoliation glaucoma.
Further analysis of the subjects showed that, compared to those who did not drink coffee, they were at a greater risk of developing the sight-eroding disease after just three cups per day.
Interestingly, the same results were not identified among other caffeinated drinks like tea, chocolate and fizzy drinks.
Women with a family history of glaucoma were also found to be at a higher risk of the condition than those without.
According to Kang, more research needs to be done to consolidate the relationship between exfoliation glaucoma and caffeinated coffee.
"Confirmation of these results in other populations would be needed to lend more credence to the possibility that caffeinated coffee might be a modifiable risk for glaucoma," he said.
The NHS explains that glaucoma is caused by a blockage in part of the eye which prevents the fluid from draining.
This leads to increased pressure on the eye, sometimes damaging the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain - thereby resulting in damaged vision or loss of sight.
