Original ArticlesHigh intraocular pressure and survival: the Framingham studies☆
Section snippets
Subjects and methods
Since 1948, the Framingham Heart Study cohort has undergone approximately biennial examinations to identify factors associated with cardiovascular disease.14 Between February 1, 1973, and February 1, 1975, at about the time of the 12th Heart Study examination, standardized eye examinations were conducted on the surviving members of the cohort (FES I).13
The ophthalmologic examination included measurement of intraocular pressure with applanation tonometry.13 Each person had three consecutive
Results
We included persons under age 70 years at the time of the eye examination in the analyses. At baseline (FES I) 1,862 persons were under the age of 70. We have excluded 98 persons with unknown or unreliable intraocular pressure measurements. Thus, our study population consisted of 1,764 persons with known intraocular pressure or on treatment for glaucoma (Table 1). There were 1,421 persons with intraocular pressure less than 20 mm Hg, 264 persons with intraocular pressure ranging from 20 to 24
Discussion
Persons with an intraocular pressure of 25 mm Hg or greater or a history of treatment for glaucoma were at higher risk of dying compared with persons with an intraocular pressure of less than 20 mm Hg. In age-sex-adjusted analyses the death rate ratio was 1.56 (95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 2.19). The most likely explanation of this finding is that higher intraocular pressure, glaucoma, or both are associated with some factors or diseases that increase the risk of dying. In a model that
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The Framingham Eye Study was supported by contract N01-EY-2-2112 from the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.