DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2020.v08i01.029

Pages: 149-154

Accurate measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) is vital in screening, diagnosis and management of paediatric glaucoma. This study compares the agreement in IOP taken with GAT (Goldman applanation) and ICare in a normal paediatric cohort. Methods: This was an observational, prospective, cross-sectional study conducted on children of age group 7-14 years presenting to ophthalmology clinics in a tertiary care hospital. The subject underwent IOP measurement by two ophthalmologists blinded to the results of the other. Differences in IOP means between the tonometers were calculated and analysed. Results: 60 eyes of 30 subjects were enrolled in this study. The mean difference between the Icare and GAT was 2.31 mmHg, with a standard deviation (SD) of ±3.17 mmHg which was statistically significant (p < 0.001) using Mann–Whitney U test, showing that Icare tonometer significantly overestimates IOP values when compared to GAT by around 2.3 mmHg. There was only a weak positive correlation between the IOP values obtained with GAT and ICT as indicated by Pearson’s correlation coefficient r=0.258; p<0.05. The results also show poor inter-observer reliability with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.286 (95% CI -0.111, 0.554) Agreement between tonometers was evaluated using the Bland-Altman method. Conclusion: Our study found poor correlation and agreement between ICT and GAT. Based on our study results and previous publications, we can recommend that when normal readings are obtained by Icare tonometer, the IOP is most likely to be within the normal range. When higher readings are obtained, confirmation may be required by more accurate methods.