title: Central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure in a Nepalese population: the Bhaktapur Glaucoma Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to evaluate the characteristics of central corneal thickness and its association with age, sex, and intraocular pressure in a Nepalese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study design was a cross-sectional, population-based survey. Two thousand three hundred thirty patients aged 40 years and older were examined at Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, a tertiary referral eye centre in Kathmandu, Nepal. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination that included measurements of central corneal thickness with an ultrasonic pachymeter and intraocular pressure with a Goldman type applanation tonometer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main outcome measures were central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure. Mean age of the 2330 patients examined was 51.3 years (SD±9.56). The mean central corneal thickness and mean intraocular pressure was 539.10 μm (SD±33.73) and 13.33 mm Hg (SD±2.26), respectively. Central corneal thickness showed an average decrease of 2.67 μm (95% confidence interval, 2.21-4.1) per decade increase in age. A 100 μm increase in central corneal thickness was associated with a 1.03 mm Hg (95% confidence interval, 0.79-1.26) increase in intraocular pressure after adjusting for age and sex.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The changes in central corneal thickness values cause a significant variation in intraocular pressure in this population, suggesting that measurement of central corneal thickness will have implications in the diagnosis and management of glaucoma.
authors.affiliation: Nepal Glaucoma Eye Clinic, Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Kathmandu, Nepal. suman.thapa@tilganga.org
authors.forename: Suman S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Thapa
authors.forename: Indira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Paudyal
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khanal
authors.forename: Nabin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Paudel
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Mansberger
authors.forename: Ger H M B
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: van Rens
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People; D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D063171:Corneal Pachymetry; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular