AVERAGE INTRA-OCULAR PRESSURE IN SUDANESE PATIENTS WITH SENILE CATARACT

Aim: Is to determine the average Intra-Ocular Pressure in Sudanese patients with senile cataract.

Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional, hospital based study was conducted in Makkah Eye Complex (a voluntary organization; a tertiary eye care center) in Khartoum Alryad. Elderly patients (300); their age varies from 60 to 95 (Mean 67.91 and SD ±6.779) years with senile cataract were asked to participate in the study. Participation was entirely voluntary. Information was collected by means of interviews, questionnaire and clinical examination. The data were analyzed using Predictive Analytic Software (PASW) statistics-18 (2010) a modified version of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). All tests are of two sides (confidence interval of 99% level). Therefore, a probability (P) value ≤ 0.05 was taken to indicate the statistical significance for all analysis and spearman correlation (r) was used to identify association between variables.

Results: Descriptive statistics of intra-ocular pressure showed the following results for RE: mean 12.28 mmHg, and SD ±3.130, whereas for LE: 12.21 mmHg, and SD ±3.322; IOP measurement for RE and LE indicated no statistical significance t-test (t = 0.375) with probability (P = 0.708), while the correlation indicates (r = 0.834) with probability (P < 0.001) indicating high statistical significance. However, visual acuity and intra-ocular pressure for the RE showed high statistical significance for both t-test and correlation. Similar results were obtained for LE with slight variation.

Conclusions and Recommendations: In Sudanese patients with senile cataract the average intra-ocular was approximately 12 mmHg within the normal limits (10-21 mmHg). The presence of cataract at early stages does not result in raised intra-ocular pressure or risk of developing secondary glaucoma. However, in this study the intra-ocular pressure were considered pre-operatively for all patients studied. Further studies are recommended to determine the influence of cataract extraction in the intra-ocular pressure. Comparative studies with patients originating from same racial or ethnic background living in similar cultures and conditions are required.