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Elevated IOP risk increases with hypertension, diabetes

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People with diabetes or hypertension also have an increased risk for elevated intraocular pressure, according to a large population-based study.

M. Cristina Leske, MD, MPH, and colleagues with the Barbados Eye Studies Group analyzed data from the 2,996-person study to assess the longitudinal relationship of hypertension and diabetes to a 4-year IOP change among participants without open-angle glaucoma (OAG) at baseline. The population in the Barbados Eye Studies, a random sample of residents of Barbados, West Indies, is predominantly black.

In 4 years, the average IOP rose 2.5 mm Hg in black participants. While 41.8 % of participants had an increase in IOP of more than 3 mm Hg, only 5.1% had an IOP decrease of more than 3 mm Hg. At the 4-year follow-up, more than 9% of participants had an IOP of greater than 25 mm Hg.

Younger participants tended to have lower mean IOP increases, with the highest increase seen in people 70 years of age and older. IOP of greater than 21 mm Hg was four times as likely among black and mixed-race participants with OAG or receiving IOP-lowering treatments as among whites.

“Hypertension and diabetes are potentially modifiable risk factors,” the authors noted. “Should other data confirm the findings of our study, strategies aimed at prevention or control of these conditions might be expected to lower IOP.” They also noted that in this study hypertension and diabetes were not related to the prevalence of OAG.