Baseline intraocular pressure more strongly correlates with decreased visual function in open angle glaucoma patients with diabetes mellitus over 4 years

Abstract

Purpose : To examine the relationship between baseline intraocular pressure (IOP) and visual function in open angle glaucoma (OAG) patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) over 4 years.

Methods : 85 patients with OAG (16 with DM, 69 without DM) were evaluated at baseline for IOP using Goldmann applanation tonometry and for visual function by 24-2 Swedish interactive threshold algorithm visual field (VF) (Humphrey) every 6 months for 4 years. Functional progression was defined as 2 consecutive visits with mean deviation (MD) decrease by at least 2 compared to baseline and/or advanced glaucoma intervention study (AGIS) increase by at least 2 compared to baseline. Pearson correlations were used to test for associations between measurements, with p<0.05 considered statistically significant.

Results : In OAG patients with and without DM, baseline IOP (mmHg) was 17.08 (95% CI=14.82, 19.34) and 16.27 (15.01, 17.53), respectively. In OAG patients with DM, baseline IOP was negatively and significantly correlated with changes in AGIS score (r=-0.56, p=0.02). In non-DM patients, this relationship was weakly positive and insignificant (r=0.02, p=0.84), leading to significant differences between groups (p=0.03).

Conclusions : Baseline IOP was associated with functional progression differently in OAG patients with DM compared to non-DM OAG patients over 4 years.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.