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. 2018 May 17;13(5):e0196926.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196926. eCollection 2018.

Intraocular pressure and its normal range adjusted for ocular and systemic parameters. The Beijing Eye Study 2011

Ya Xing Wang  1 , Liang Xu  1 , Wen Bin Wei  2 , Jost B Jonas  1   3
Affiliations

Intraocular pressure and its normal range adjusted for ocular and systemic parameters. The Beijing Eye Study 2011

Ya Xing Wang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the distribution of intraocular pressure (IOP) in a normal population and the associations of IOP with other ocular and systemic parameters.

Methods: Out of 3468 participants of the population-based cross-sectional Beijing Eye Study 2011 we selected those individuals without glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The study particpants underwent a detailed ophthalmologic and systemic examination. IOP was measured by air puff non-contact tonometry.

Results: The study included 3135 eyes of 3135 participants with a mean age of 64.1 ± 9.6 years (mean ± standard deviation). The mean IOP was 14.7 ± 2.8 mmHg. The 95% percentile and 97.5% percentile of the IOP distribution decreased from 20 mmHg / 21 mmHg in individuals aged 40 to 54 years to 18 mmHg / 19 mmHg in individuals aged ≥80 years. In multivariable analysis, higher IOP was associated with the systemic parameters of younger age (P<0.001), higher blood concentration of glucose (P = 0.03) and triglycerides (P<0.001), higher diastolic blood pressure (P<0.001), higher pulse rate (P = 0.003) and higher quantity of alcohol consumption (P = 0.004), and with the ocular parameters of larger central corneal thickness (P<0.001), more myopic refractive error (P = 0.01) and steeper anterior corneal curvature radius (P = 0.006). IOP decreased significantly by 0.50 mmHg and 0.76 mmHg for each increase in age by 10 years and each increase in corneal curvature radius by 1.0 mm, respectively. The range of the mean ± 2 standard deviations of the IOP adjusted for the parameters of the multivariable model was 9.0 to 18.1 mmHg versus 9.2-20.2 mmHg for the unadjusted IOP. In the age group of 50 to 55 years, the age-adjusted IOP range (mean ± 2 standard deviations) was 9 to 18 mmHg, and in the age group of ≥75 years, it was 8 to 18 mmHg.

Conclusions: IOP physiologically depends on a multitude of systemic and ocular factors including age and blood pressure. These physiological associations of the IOP may be taken into account in the definition of the normal range of the IOP.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author Jost B. Jonas is a Consultant for Mundipharma Co. (Cambridge, UK) and patent holder with Biocompatibles UK Ltd. (Franham, Surrey, UK) (Title: Treatment of eye diseases using encapsulated cells encoding and secreting neuroprotective factor and / or anti-angiogenic factor; Patent number: 20120263794), and has a patent application with University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany) (Title: Agents for use in the therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of myopia or hyperopia; Europäische Patentanmeldung 15 000 771.4). This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. All other authors declare that no other competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Histogram showing the distribution of intraocular pressure (raw data) in non-glaucomatous participants of the Beijing Eye Study 2011.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Scattergram showing the distribution of IOP versus age in non-glaucomatous participants of the Beijing Eye Study 2011.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Graph showing the distribution of intraocular pressure stratified by age in non-glaucomatous participants of the Beijing Eye Study 2011.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Graph showing the distribution of intraocular pressure stratified by mean blood pressure in non-glaucomatous participants of the Beijing Eye Study 2011.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Graph showing the distribution of intraocular pressure stratified by central corneal thickness in non-glaucomatous participants of the Beijing Eye Study 2011.
Fig 6
Fig 6. Histogram showing the distribution of intraocular pressure adjusted age, body height, diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, refractive error, central corneal thickness and anterior corneal curvature radius in non-glaucomatous participants of the Beijing Eye Study 2011.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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