The Correlation between Intraocular Pressure and Myopia in Children

ABSTRACT

While elevated intraocular pressure[IOP] is associated with myopia in adults, its potential influence on the growth of eyes in juveniles is controversial. To address this issue, an possible relation between IOP and refraction in children was sought. IOP and refractive state were measured in one hundred sixty-eight eyes of children. For data analysis, myopia was defined as a spherical equivalent of more than 1 diopter of myoia. We compared the intraocular pressure difference between myopia and non-myopia. There were eighty-seven eyes with myopic children and eighty-one with non-myopic children. The mean age was 10.08+/-3.12 years in myopic children and 7.94+/-3.31 years in non-myopic. The mean age of myopic children was older than non-myopic children. The mean spherical refractive error of all subjects was -1.98+/-2.47 diopter; -2.82+/-1.89 diopters, myopia, and 0.16+/-1.12diopters, non-myopia. The mean IOP of all subjects was 15.01+/-2.67mmHg ; 16.47+/-3.36mmHg, myopic, and 14.26+/-2.08mmHg, non-myopic[p<0.05]. These results indicate that IOP in children may be higher in myopic eyes than in non-myopic eyes. Whether IOP could contribute to the mechanisms causing the eye growth of childhood myopia requires further study.