Intra-ocular Pressure in Subjects
with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
1336-1338
Correspondence
Dr. S Anandha lakshmi, MD,
Department of Physiology,
SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre,
SRM University, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu, India.
E-mail: ssathyan2003@gmail.com
Background and objective: Open-angle glaucoma is estimated to afflict 66.8 million people worldwide and it is a leading cause of blindness (1). Diabetes is one of the risk factors for glaucoma. The purpose of the study was to analyze the relationship between intraocular pressure and type 2 diabetes mellitus and to investigate the effects of chronic hyperglycaemia on the intraocular pressure (IOP).
Materials and Methods: We prospectively measured the IOP by Schiotz tonometry in 100 normal subjects (Group I) and in 150 subjects with type 2 diabetes (Group II). None of the subjects with diabetes had diabetic retinopathy, secondary glaucoma or a family history of glaucoma nor did they undergo any ocular or laser therapy. The glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of the subjects with diabetes were determined and based on that, they were divided into 3 subgroups as group IIa with HbA1c levels of < 7% (n = 62); group IIb with HbA1c levels of 7 to 8.0% (n = 48); and group IIc with HbA1c levels of > 8.0% (n = 40 ) All the data were expressed as means ± standard deviations. The statistical analysis was performed by the Student’s t test. The correlation between HbA1c and IOP was analyzed by the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. A p value of < 0 .05 was considered to be significant.
Results: We observed that the IOP values were higher in the subjects with diabetes ( mean = 20.4 ± 3.44 ) than in the age and sex matched control groups. The mean IOP in the groups IIa, IIb and IIc were 17.32 ± 2.70 , 17.81 ± 2.76mm Hg, and 18.04 ± 2.58 mm Hg respectively. The difference in the IOP between the groups IIb and IIc was found to be statistically significant (P = .001)
Conclusion: The intra-ocular pressure was increased in the subjects with diabetes as compared to the controls and especially those subjects with a poor glycaemic control were more prone to develop an increased intra-ocular pressure.