Abstract
Purpose: :
To assess the relationship of central corneal thickness (CCT) with age and gender in a West African population.
Methods: :
Bilateral CCT measurements were made twice on the same day in 2594 subjects aged 40 years and over, participating in the Tema Eye Survey in Ghana, West Africa. Six subjects were unable to complete the test on either measurement in both eyes. The average (of both measurements on both eyes) CCT measurement was computed for each subject. Pearson correlation was used to quantify the strength of association between age and CCT. Analysis of covariance was used to assess the effect of age, gender, and the interaction of the two on CCT.
Results: :
The mean [range] age of subjects was 53.42 [40, 94] years and 1609 (62%) were female. The average (SD) [range] CCT measurement was 530.0 (34.8) [399.8, 678.8]. There was a very weak (r2=0.03) but statistically significant (p<0.001) negative correlation between age and CCT. Male subjects averaged CCT 8.6 µm thicker than females (p<0.001) and CCT decreased by 5.5 µm per decade of age in both genders. There was no interaction of the age effect with gender (p=0.52).
Conclusions: :
A population based cross-sectional survey of adults in Tema, Ghana, West Africa found a very weak but statistically significant association between age and central corneal thickness. Males had thicker CCT than females.
Keywords: cornea: clinical science • aging