Abstract
Purpose: :
To compare the distribution and determinants of intraocular pressure (IOP) and vertical cup disc ratio (VCDR) in children and adults from Piraquara city.
Methods: :
Cross-sectional observational study evaluated children aged 6 to 14 years, and adults over 40 years. All children and adults were invited to undergo a screening examination including medical interview, visual acuity, blood pressure and glicemia measurements. Properly trained Ophthalmology residents measured IOP using Perkins tonometry for children and Goldmann tonometry for adults, and subjectively assessed the VCDR using direct ophthalmoscopy. A fellowship glaucoma specialist helped to determine the VCDR when needed. Glaucoma suspects were submitted to a complete ophthalmologic exam. Multivariate analyses were performed to adjust for confounder variables, such as race, gender, systemic arterial (SAH) hypertension, diabetes (DM), glaucoma or glaucoma suspicious.
Results: :
A total of 2217 adults and 1415 children were examined (22% and 10% participation rate, respectively). The Table below shows the demographics data, and right eye mean IOP and VCDR distribution. The 97.5/99.5 percentiles for IOP and VCDR in children were 19/21mmHg and 0.6/0.7, respectively, and in normal adults (no glaucoma or glaucoma suspects) were 22/26mmHg and 0.62/0.80, respectively. In children, VCDR was associated to age and gender (p=.002 and p=.005), and IOP was associated to age (p=<.001). In adults, VCDR was associated to age, gender, race, glaucoma, SAH, DM (all p<.009); and IOP was associated to race, glaucoma, SAH (all p<.001) and DM (p=.036). In the multivariate analyses, adults showed a greater mean adjusted IOP and VCDR than children (17.5 SE=0.2 vs. 16.6 SE=0.20, p<.001) (0.41 SE=0.007 vs. 0.33 SE=0.009, p<.001). After adjusting for all confounding variables, VCDR increased with age, while IOP increased with age in the children group, but not in adults.
Keywords: intraocular pressure • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: biostatistics/epidemiology methodology • optic nerve