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Not all populations of ‘African origin’ have higher IOP, study finds

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Some populations of African origin may not have higher mean intraocular pressures when compared with non-African populations, a study found. When evaluating IOP in individual patients, ophthalmologists should consider ethnic and racial origins more specific than “African,” the study authors recommend.

Russell Read, MD, and colleagues at the University of Washington School of Medicine retrospectively compared 57 Somali patients to 57 age- and gender-matched white control subjects. All patients were at least 30 years old. All patients were seen in the same clinic between July 1996 and March 1998. Patients were excluded from the study if they had a diagnosis of glaucoma or other conditions or medications affecting intraocular pressure.

The mean age of the Somali patients was 48.5, and of the control subjects, 48.1. The mean intraocular pressure of the Somali patients was 13.76 mm Hg, and of the control patients, 13.94 mm Hg. The differences between the groups were not statistically significant.

The study is published in the Journal of Glaucoma.