The Impact of Systemic Health Parameters on Intraocular Pressure in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

Background A normal intraocular pressure (IOP) is essential for maintaining the normal structure and function of the eyes. Furthermore, an elevated IOP is a known risk factor for glaucoma. As the results from studies addressing the relationship between IOP and systemic health parameters are conflicting, researchers have not reached a consensus. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between IOP and health parameters among non-glaucomatous participants in the western region of Saudi Arabia. Method We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 255 participants aged 20 years and above who had not received any medical treatment for ocular hypertension or glaucoma at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from January 2019 to April 2021. The patients were categorized into age groups, divided by decades (ranging from 20-29 years to 80+ years); the most prevalent age group was 60-69 years. The data were entered using Microsoft Excel 2016 (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington), and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used for univariate analysis. The relationship between continuous variables was analyzed by the Pearson correlation coefficient. The differences between continuous and categorical variables were assessed by the t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test, respectively. Results The mean (standard deviation) IOP in the right and the left eyes was 15.7 mmHg (4.0) and 15.6 mmHg (3.9), respectively. There were no significant associations between IOP and lipid profile parameters (p > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the right IOP, in relation to the age groups (p = 0.006). Moreover, the mean IOP in the left eye was significantly higher among patients with diabetes than in the patients without diabetes (p = 0.007) as well as in patients with hypertension than in the patients without hypertension (p = 0.023). Conclusion The effect of total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), BMI, and sex on IOP could not be established in our study. However, over the past years, people's diets have incorporated higher cholesterol and fat content, leading to higher BMI levels. Therefore, further studies of the association between BMI and IOP are critical to determine if BMI is certainly a significant risk factor for increased IOP and glaucoma.