High Blood Pressure a Risk Factor of Incident Ocular Hypertension in Japanese Men and Women Undergoing Health Screening

Abstract

Background and Aim: No longitudinal study has been conducted on risk factors of incident ocular hypertension (OH). The aim of this study was to find risk factors of OH defined as intraocular pressure (IOP) of ≥ 21 mmHg for one or both eyes in a health screening population.

Methods: This was a retrospective 8-year follow-up study of 1,950 men and 1,109 women whose IOPs were < 21 mmHg at baseline. Hazard ratios (HRs) of incident OH for candidate numerical and candidate categorical risk factors were calculated with Cox regressions.

Results: OH developed in 36 men (1.9%) and 12 women (1.1%) during the mean follow-up period of 6.1 years. Among numerical variables, an increase in systolic and diastolic blood pressures (BPs) and a decrease in HDL cholesterol were significant risk factors of OH in all participants. When calculated separately by gender, increases in systolic and diastolic BPs were significant risk factors of incident OH in men while an increase in diastolic BP was a significant risk factor of incident OH in women. Among categorical variables, hypertension and hypo-HDL cholesterolemia were significant risk factors of incident OH in all participants. When calculated separately by gender, hypertension and absence of daily alcohol drinking were significant risk factors of incident OH in men while no significant risk factor was found in women.

Conclusion: High BP was a significant risk factor of incident OH.