title: Distribution of central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure in a large population of Turkish school children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the distribution of central corneal thickness (CCT) and intraocular pressure (IOP) in a population of Turkish school children and to evaluate the relationships between these values and both age and gender.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 30,320 eyes from 15,160 healthy school children aged 5-18 years were examined. CCT and IOP were measured using an ultrasonic pachymeter and a non-contact tonometer, respectively. Measurements were compared with age, gender, and parental consanguinity of subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the school children was 10.43 ± 2.54 years. For right eyes, mean CCT was 557.91 ± 34.26 µm and mean IOP was 14.15 ± 2.87 mmHg. Mean CCT was significantly thicker in males compared to females (P < 0.0001). Mean IOP was significantly higher in females compared to males (P < 0.0001). CCT in children aged 14 years and older was significantly thinner than that in the younger age groups (P < 0.0001). There was a significant difference among the age groups for IOP (P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in CCT or IOP related to parental consanguinity (P = 0.538, P = 0.319, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mean CCT in Turkish school children is of comparable thickness to that in Western school children. CCT reached adult values around 14 years of age in our children. Furthermore, males had thicker CCT than females. IOP was lower in males than females, and increased with age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey. ybsakalar@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Yildirim Bayezit
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Sakalar
authors.forename: Ugur
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Keklikci
authors.forename: Kaan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Unlu
authors.forename: Mehmet Fuat
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Alakus
authors.forename: Mine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Umut
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dag
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003315:Cornea / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014421:Turkey; D014463:Ultrasonography