Correlation between systemic hypertension and glaucoma risk: Insights from a population‐based glaucoma screening (NCT 05875090)
Bernardo Monteiro, Afonso Lima‐Cabrita, Rafael Whitfield, Vasco Lobo, Rodrigo Marques, Matilde Ourique, Teresa Varandas, Rafael Barão, Marta Pazos, Ingeborg Stalmans, Luís Abegão‐PintoAims/Purpose: To evaluate the association between glaucoma referral and systemic hypertension (SH) in participants in a population‐based glaucoma screening using artificial intelligence (AI).
Methods: compare the odds of glaucoma referral between participants with and without SH. Glaucoma referral was defined by intraocular pressure (IOP) ≥ 24mmHg or AI index ≥ 0.73. Clinical data was extracted from electronical medical records. Statistical analyses included descriptive and bivariate statistics.
Results: Data from 837 participants were analyzed, comprising 54% males, with an average age of 62±4 years, across 11 functional units of Santa Maria Local Health Unit. 63,4% (n = 530) of this cohort had SH, of which 81.1% were on angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. SH was not a risk factor for positive Glaucoma referral (SH = 8.5% vs non‐SH = 6,86%; OR 1.663; 95% CI 0.827‐3.345). Interestingly, there appears to be a potential association between SH and a higher IOP (p = 0.024). Furthermore, there also appears to be a higher AI mean between hypertensive patients who are medicated with ACE inhibitors and those who are not (0.58 vs 0.52, p = 0.003).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest a potential association between SH and a higher IOP but not with the AI index. Type of anti‐SH medication may influence optic disc damage assessment and thus may need to be considered in the management of glaucoma patients.