Systemic Disease and Long-term Intraocular Pressure Mean, Peak, and Variability in Nonglaucomatous Eyes

Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is a well-known risk factor in glaucoma development and progression. As most glaucoma risk factors are not modifiable, IOP remains the sole focus of medical and surgical therapy. Identifying modifiable factors and their effects on IOP, such as systemic diseases, is therefore of interest. The objective is to assess the long-term, longitudinal relationship between systemic diseases and IOP mean, peak, and variability, including diabetes, hypertension, body mass index (BMI), and smoking status.

Secondary analysis of randomized clinical trial data.

Longitudinal IOP and systemic disease data from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), a randomized clinical trial of high-dose antioxidants, was analyzed.

A total of 3909 older participants without a reported diagnosis of glaucoma or glaucoma treatment during AREDS with up to 12 years of annual IOP and systemic disease data.

Independent systemic disease risk factors associated with IOP.

Univariate analysis identified numerous systemic disease factors associated with IOP mean, peak, and variability. Longitudinal adjusted models identified diabetes, obesity, and systolic hypertension as significantly associated with increased IOP, while systemic beta-blocker use was inversely associated.

Results demonstrate a relationship between multiple systemic diseases and IOP; moreover, they demonstrate that systemic diseases influence additional parameters beyond mean IOP, such as IOP peak and variability. Although only to be taken within the context of IOP, these population-level trends reveal potentially modifiable factors in IOP control, and are particularly important in the context of increasing obesity and diabetes prevalence rates in American adults.