The Effect of Swimming Goggles on Intraocular Pressure in Angle Closure Glaucoma Patients

Abstract

Background: To study the effect of swimming goggles on intraocular pressure (IOP) in angle-closure glaucoma patients. Methods: Prospective cohort study, Forty patients with angle-closure without glaucoma were enrolled. IOP was measured by Goldmann applanation tonometry method before wearing goggles, immediately after, 10 min and 30 min post, and after removal: 5 instances in total. We altered regular swimming goggles by removing the plastic lens to permit IOP measurement. Results: Mean age of the cohort was 61.55 ± 8.55 years, with a 4:6 male:female ratio. The average baseline IOP was 15.25 ± 4.00 mmHg; the average IOP immediately after wearing goggles was 17.43 ± 4.49 mmHg. At 10 min and 30 min post-wearing , was 17.95 ± 4.68 and 19.05 ± 5.87 mmHg, respectively. The final average IOP after goggle removal was 14.8 ± 3.93 mmHg. No statistical significance, using paired t-test (P>0.05), were found when comparing average IOP between each period with the baseline. Patients were divided into two subgroups: confirmedprimary angle-closure and suspected primary angle-closure. No statistically significant differences were found after using paired t-test for both groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Wearing goggles causes slight IOP elevation in angle closure patients of about 2-4 mmHg or 25% from baseline; however, the IOP differences achieved did not reach statistical significance. Thus, using goggles is seem to be safe, even in angle closure patients. Conflicts of interest: Author has no financial interest in this study