Effect and correlation of intraocular pressure on the refractive status of children and adolescents

ObjectiveTo explore the effect of IOP on the refractive error in children and adolescents, and to analyze the correlation among IOP, AL and diopter of refraction. MethodsConducting a cross-sectional study. A total of 3256 students (6511 pairs of eyes) aged between 4 and 15 in Jinniu district who presented for ocular health examination during October 2018 and October 2021 were selected, including 1735 boys (3470 eyes) and 1521 girls (3041 eyes).The differences between groups were analyzed by analysis of variance, correlation analysis by Pearson, data were analyzed by statistical software SPSS 25.0. ResultsThere were significant differences in SE, IOP and AL between each group (P < 0.001), whereas IOP, AL were positively correlated with SE, respectively. The average IOP of female (17.45 {+/-}2.56mmg) was higher than that of male (17.08 {+/-}2.60mmg), while the mean AL of male (23.46 {+/-}0.81 mm) was longer than that of female (22.91 {+/-}0.83 mm). There was weak or no correlation between IOP and AL (r = 0.126, P < 0.001). No correlation was found between IOP and SE (r = 0.116, P < 0.001). Positive correlation between AL and SE (r = 0.632, P < 0.001) was noted. ConclusionThe increase of myopia degree in children at different ages is manifested by the increase of intraocular pressure and axial length, the increase of axial length is one of the main reasons affecting diopter.However, IOP may not directly lead to increase of myopia in children and adolescents within the range of normal IOP. SynopsisThis study suggests that there is no direct relationship between axial length and refraction or intraocular pressure, and intraocular pressure may not be a direct factor influencing the development of myopia.