Purpose:
To examine the relationship between blood pressure (BP) andthe risk of open angle glaucoma OAG in an adult Latino population.
Methods:
The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study (LALES) is a population-basedstudy of eye disease in Latinos aged 40 years or older. Participants(N=6130) underwent an interviewer-administered questionnaireand a complete ocular and clinical examination. The associationbetween age, intraocular pressure (IOP) and systolic and diastolicBP (SBP, DBP) was evaluated. Age-adjusted odds ratios (OR) werecalculated to assess the risk of OAG in relation to BP, perfusionpressures (PP) and other cardiovascular risk factors.
Results:
IOP increases as blood pressure increases. This increase issignificant for both systolic and diastolic BP (P< 0.001)and is independent of age. Elevated SBP and DBP are associatedwith increased risk of OAG (OR 2.0 and 2.5, respectively) asare low DBP (OR 1.6) and low SPP and DPP (OR 2.9 and 2.0, respectively).The strongest associations with OAG exist for high SBP (Figure1) and low DPP (Figure 2). There was no relationship betweenthe risk of OAG and the presence of other diseases of cardiovascularorigin.
Conclusions:
Elevated systolic blood pressures and low diastolic perfusionpressures are important risk factors for OAG.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • intraocular pressure