Glaucoma Autonomic Dysfunction and Blood Pressure in Glaucoma Patients: The Lifelines Cohort Study Nigus G. Asefa,1 Anna Neustaeter,2 Nomdo M. Jansonius,2 and Harold Snieder1 1Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands 2Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medical Science, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Correspondence: Nigus G. Asefa, PURPOSE. We investigated relationship of glaucoma with measurements related to auto- University Medical Center nomic dysfunction, including heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure (BP). Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands; METHODS. Glaucoma was defined using a questionnaire-based algorithm for 86,841 Life-
[email protected]. Lines Cohort Study participants. Baseline HRV (root mean square of successive differ- ences [RMSSD]) was calculated from resting electrocardiograms; systolic BP (SBP), dias- Received: April 18, 2020 tolic BP (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and pulse pressure (PP) were oscillometric- Accepted: August 7, 2020 Published: September 15, 2020 based measurements. We used a generalized linear mixed model, adjusted for age, age square, sex, body mass index, and familial relationships to assess the relationship of Citation: Asefa NG, Neustaeter A, baseline HRV and BP (continuous and quartiles), hypertension, and antihypertensive Jansonius NM, Snieder H. medication with glaucoma at follow up (median, 3.8 years). Autonomic dysfunction and blood pressure in glaucoma patients: The RESULTS. The odds ratio (OR) of glaucoma was 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92– lifelines cohort study. Invest 0.99) per unit increase in log-transformed RMSSD (in ms), indicating that autonomous Ophthalmol Vis Sci.