Intraocular Pressure, Ocular Hypertension, and Glaucoma: A Comparison of White and Blue Collar Workers

Abstract

Intraocular Pressure, Ocular Hypertension, and Glaucoma: A Comparison of White and Blue Collar Workers: Imran Ahmad Qureshi, et al. Department of Physiology, Rawalpindi Medical College—The course of glaucoma is an insidious one and most cases remains asymptomatic until the visual field has been seriously diminished. Consequently, it is a disease suited to a preventive approach. The intraocular pressure (IOP) distribution and prevalence of ocular hypertension and glaucoma have never been described in industrial workers. After controlling all IOP affecting factors, we investigated levels of intraocular pressure and its association with certain health parameters along with the prevalence of ocular hypertension and glaucoma in healthy white and blue collar workers in Karachi, the largest city in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. In both groups, the histogram shows a skew to the right, so that the distribution was not Gaussian. This study reports that on an average, per decade, white collars have 1.1 mmHg (p<0.001) higher IOP than blue collar subjects. The average per decade increases were 0.47 mmHg and 0.33 mmHg in white and blue collar workers respectively. The age effect was statistically insignificant until the age of 40 years in both groups, after which it became quite significant. Differences in mean IOP (left minus right) were found to be 0.15 mmHg (p<0.2), and 0.12 mmHg (p<0.05) in white and blue collar subjects, respectively. In normal subjects IOP was weakly but statistically significantly correlated with the heart rate and systolic blood pressure. Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures and age were found to be risk factors for ocular hypertension. In both normotensive and ocular hypertensive subjects, weight and height were not correlated significantly. Ocular hypertensive subjects (IOP>21 mmHg) were 2.48 times more numerous in white collar than in blue collar subjects. Most of the ocular hypertensive and several glaucoma patients were diagnosed during this survey. The results therefore strongly suggest that in routine health examination, tonometry should be included.