Ocular hypertensive effect of menopause with and without systemic hypertension.

BACKGROUND

Mean intraocular pressure in postmenopausal women is higher than that in menstruating women. Intraocular pressure is positively correlated with systemic blood pressure. No previous study has compared intraocular pressure in postmenopausal women with systemic hypertension and those without.

PURPOSE

To investigate the effects of menopause on intraocular pressure in subjects with and without high blood pressure, after eliminating those factors that can affect intraocular pressure.

METHODS

Normotensive menstruating and menopausal, along with hypertensive menopausal subjects of the same age groups were studied. Intraocular pressure was measured with the Goldmann applanation tonometer.

RESULTS

The mean intraocular pressure of the normotensive and hypertensive postmenopausal women were 0.73+/-0.27 (p<0.05), and 1.09+/-0.34 (p<0.01) mmHg higher than normotensive menstruating women respectively. The mean intraocular pressure of hypertensive postmenopausal women was 0.36+/-0.15 mmHg (p<0.05) higher than that of normotensive postmenopausal women.

CONCLUSIONS

Menopause significantly increases intraocular pressure. Mean intraocular pressure of hypertensive postmenopausal women was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of normotensive postmenopausal women. Knowledge of the normal level of intraocular pressure during various stages of female sexual life may help glaucoma screeners.