“Diurnal Variation In Intra-Ocular Pressure – A Hospital Based Study”

Abstract

Background:

Aqueous humour drainage from the eye influences intraocular pressure. Aqueous flow has a unique circadian rhythm, with nocturnal flow being lower than daytime flow. IOP varies rhythmically throughout the day, but it fluctuates more in glaucoma-affected eyes. Globally, glaucoma is the second most common factor in permanent vision loss. The main aim of the study is to assess the diurnal variation in intra-ocular pressure among the patients aged above 45 yrs as a screening tool for early detection of glaucoma cases.

Material and Methods:

This hospital based cross sectional study was conducted at MMCH &RI Kanchipuram over a period of four months from October 2022- January 2023. A total of 90 patients were enrolled for this study.  A semi-structured questionnaire is used to collect the demographic details and intraocular pressure was measured twice on a same day to detect diurnal variation. The data’s collected were entered in Microsoft Excel and analysed by using software SPSS 21.

Results:

From the present study, the mean age of participants was 58.45±9.053 years. Around 35% of patients had diurnal variation and the meandiurnal variation was 6.255±1.098 with a minimum of 5.1 to maximum 8.7 mmHg. It was also found that the mean IOP in the dark period was significantly higher in the dark period.From the present study it was also found that there is significant association with diurnal variation of intraocular pressure is seen more in men and elderly >65 years of age people and among the patients with co-morbid condition with p value <0.05.

Conclusion:

Understanding the intraocular pressure fluctuation is essential because it affects the diagnosis and management of glaucoma patients and is a significant risk factor and main treatment outcome.