Relationship between Central Corneal Thickness and Intraocular Pressure in Non-Glaucoma Patients Attending Clinic at Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.

Abstract

Aim: To determine the relationship between central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure among 
non-glaucoma patients seen at the eye clinic of Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.
Methods: This is a hospital based descriptive, cross-sectional study on 175 non-glaucomatous patients 
that attended the eye clinic at Federal Medical Centre, Owerri from July, 2013 to October, 2013 who 
met the inclusion criteria. Purposive sampling method was used. Central corneal thickness was 
measured using ultrasound pachymeter and intraocular pressure measured by applanation tonometry. 
Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 19.0 Statistical software.
Results: A higher proportion of the respondents were in the age group 41-50 years (20.6%). The age 
range was 15-80 years, with mean age of 41.41 ± 18.08 years. There were more females (66.9%) than 
males (33.1%) with the male: female ratio of 1:2.02. There were no significant difference in the 
intraocular pressures between the two eyes of the respondents (p=0.318), but a significant difference in 
the central corneal thickness (p=0.001). There was a positive correlation (r = 0.095) between central 
corneal thickness and IOP, that for every unit rise in central corneal thickness there is a rise in the IOP by 
0.006. This then showed that with every unit rise in the central corneal thickness, the mean corrected 
intraocular pressure decreased by 0.060 mmHg. This was also statistically significant (p < 0.001). 
Conclusion: There was a positive correlation between central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure 
in non-glaucomatous patients. It is therefore, imperative that every patient undergoes pachymetric 
evaluation as part of routine clinic investigation as this will help in early detection of patients who may 
be at risk of developing primary open angle glaucoma