Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: Height is an indicator of many factors, mainly genetic, as well as status of growth hormone and childhood nutrition. This study was conducted to evaluate the association between height and intraocular pressure (IOP) in a trachoma hyperendemic district in Tanzania. Methods: Six villages were randomly selected, and all residents aged 40 years and older were invited to participate in an eye examination. The IOP was recorded with a calibrated Tono–Pen under topical proparacaine hydrochloride 1% anesthesia. The instrument gives the mean of four recordings, and three such means (a total of 12 measurements) were obtained per eye, with the initial eye chosen at random. The IOP reported is the mean of the three recorded measurements. Elevated IOP was defined as an IOP >21 mm Hg in at least one eye. Spearman correlation and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between height and IOP. Results:A total of 2927 participants aged 40 to 98 (median=50) years old, 55.6% of whom were female, were included in the study. The median height (measured in centimeters) was 164 (range: 123–182) and 153 (range: 128–172) for men and women, respectively. Prevalence of glaucoma (any type) was 5.9%. The IOP of the participants with and without any type of glaucoma ranged from 6.3 to 33.7 and from 6.3 to 61.2 mm Hg, respectively. Elevated IOP presented in 6.2% of the study participants. Nearly half of the population (44.9%) had trichiasis and/or trachoma scar. Provenance of hypertension was 16.2%. Self–report indicated none of the participants had ever been treated for glaucoma and hypertension. The correlation coefficient for IOP with height was –0.05 (P=0.00). Univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that those whose height was below the median in their gender group were approximately twice as likely to present an elevated IOP than those whose height was at or above the median (OR=1.80, 95% CI: 1.34–2.43). The association between the median of height and elevated IOP remained after adjustment for sex, age, hypertension, trichiasis/trachoma scar, body mass index, and any type of glaucoma (OR=1.84, 95% CI: 1.31–2.58). All of the above results remained after exclusion of the individuals with any type of glaucoma. Conclusions: This study found an inverse relationship between height and IOP. To our knowledge, it is the first reported investigation of such an association in a trachoma hyperendemic African country. However, this study just supports a statistical association between height and IOP. Further evaluations are required before firm conclusions can be drawn.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment