Intraocular pressure in samples of elderly Finnish and Swedish men and women

Intraocular pressure was measured in 231 systematically sampled 75-year-old men and women in Göteborg, Sweden and in 284 75-year-old and 201 80-year-old residents in Jyväskylä, Finland as part of a comparative study on functional capacity and health, NORA 75 (Nordic Research on Ageing). After excluding the cases reporting glaucoma in their medical history or using drugs for glaucoma treatment there were no significant differences in the distributions of intraocular pressure between the men (mean intraocular pressure in the right eye 15.1 mmHg, left eye 15.0 mmHg) and women (mean intraocular pressure in the right eye 15.5 mmHg, left eye 15.8 mmHg) in Göteborg. In Jyväskylä the 75-year-old men had significantly lower intraocular pressure (right eye 13.4 mmHg, left eye 14.2 mmHg) than either the Jyväskylä women (right eye 15.1 mmHg, left eye 15.4 mmHg) or the men and women in Göteborg. Among the 80-year-olds in Jyväskylä there were no significant differences between the sexes (means for the right eye 14.0 mmHg and 13.7 mmHg and for the left eye 13.9 mmHg and 13.7 mmHg for the men and the women, respectively). The 80-year-old women had lower intraocular pressure than the 75-year-old women of either location. Ouclar hypertension (intraocular pressure 22 mmHg or higher) was more common among the Swedish 75-year-olds than among either the Finnish 75- or 80-year-olds.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)