Association between Intraocular Pressure and Myopia Among Children Aged 7 to 16 years

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the association between high intraocular pressure and myopia in children and compare it to emmetropia, and to determine the relationship between elevated intraocular pressure and varying degrees of myopia. Study design and Setting: Comparative cross-sectional study was performed at the tertiary eye care hospital, Rawalpindi for six months from July 2021 to December 2021. Methodology: Patients with myopia of greater than 0.5Ds and emmetropes with visual acuity of 6/6 were included. All patients underwent visual acuity, cycloplegic refraction, and fundus examination in order to exclude the myopic patientswith other systemic and ocular disorders. Intraocular pressure and central corneal thickness were measured using a Tonopen tonometer and Pachymeter respectively.Data was entered on SPSS version 26 for analysis. Independent sample T-test and one-way ANOVA was utilized for inferential statistics. Results: A total of 218 subjects were included with a mean age of 11.38 ± 2.602 ranging from 7 to 16 years. Females 50.9% (n=111) were outnumbered by male participants 49.1% (n=107). The mean IOP in emmetropes was 13.35 ± 2.433 mmHg and in myopes was 15.22 ± 3 mmHg and there is a statistically significant mean difference between these groups (P-value <0.05). There is also a statistically significant mean difference between IOP and varying degrees of myopia, that is; low(13.46 ±2.797), moderate(16.62 ± 2.981), and high(19.215 ± 2.184). Conclusions: The IOP was higher in high and moderate myopic eyes as compared to emmetropes. Moreover, a strong association was found between myopia and elevated IOP in children.