Body Height And Ocular Dimensions In A Population Based Study In Rural Central India.

1. Vinay Nangia¹
2. Jost Jonas^{1, 2}
3. Arshia Matin¹
4. Maithili Kulkarni1
5. Ajit Sinha¹

¹Suraj Eye Institute, Nagpur, India
²Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

Purpose: To investigate associations between anthropomorphic parameters and ocular dimensions in a typical rural society untouched by the effects of urbanization.

Methods: The Central India Eye and Medical Study performed in rural Central India included 4,711 participants aged 30 or more years. The participants underwent a detailed ophthalmic and medical examination.

Results: After controlling for age, gender, level of education, and body mass index (BMI), taller subjects were more likely to have larger eyes with a longer axial length (+0.23 mm for each 10 cm increase in height), lower corneal refractive power (-0.50 diopters for each 10 cm increase in height), deeper anterior chambers (+0.03 mm for each 10 cm increase in height), and longer vitreous cavity (+0.20 mm for each 10 cm increase in height). Central corneal thickness (P=0.97) and lens thickness (P=0.08) were not significantly associated with body height. After controlling for age, gender, level of education and height, subjects with a higher BMI had shorter globes (-0.02 mm for each unit increase in BMI), flatter corneas (-0.03 diopters for each unit increase in BMI) and thicker corneas (+0.49 μm for each unit increase in BMI), thicker lenses and longer vitreous cavities

Conclusions: In the rural population of Central India Taller subjects had larger eyes with a flatter cornea. Subjects with a higher body mass index had shorter eyes, flatter and thicker corneas, and thicker lenses. These findings may be helpful in elucidating pathogenic associations between systemic and ocular parameters.