A longitudinal study of the relationship between intraocular and blood pressures.

The relationship between intraocular and systemic blood pressures was investigated in a prospective study of 572 middle-aged men. There was no consistent relationship between intraocular pressure at first visit and age. Subjects with an intraocular pressure greater than 20 mm Hg had a significantly higher systolic blood pressure than controls matched for age. An autoregressive model was used to examine the relationship between change in intraocular pressure and initial intraocular pressure, age, and blood pressure. When the authors compared data obtained 1 or 2 years apart, a change in intraocular pressure was positively correlated with a change in systolic blood pressure. Thus, the results of this study indicate that changes in intraocular pressure over time are associated with changes in systolic blood pressure and that intraocular pressure does not necessarily increase with age.