Walking More Than 10,000 Steps Per Day May be Associated with Increased Optic Disc Vessel Density in Patients With Primary Open Angle Glaucoma.

Abstract

Purpose: The study aimed to investigate the relationship between average daily steps (ADS) and optic disc angioflow vessel density (VD) in patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG).

Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Forty-one POAG patients (74 eyes) were recruited from Wenzhou Glaucoma Progression Study (WGPS) who were divided into two groups based on international physical activity guidelines: 21 subjects (38 eyes) in the ADS>10,000 group and 20 patients (36 eyes) in the ADS≤10,000 group. ADS was monitored using a waist-worn accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3x-BT) worn on the waist for seven consecutive days, while optic disc VD was assessed by the optical coherence tomography angiography.

Results: Papillary VD was significantly denser in the ADS>10,000 group (ADS:12782±2925) compared to the ADS≤10,000 group (ADS:7418±1543) for both whole image-all VD (WIAVD) and whole image-capillary VD (WICVD) (P=0.026, 0.032, respectively). Univariate analysis indicates that WIAVD was more denser in ADS>10,000 vs ADS≤10,000 (P=0.013) and that WICVD was more denser in ADS>10,000 vs ADS≤10,000 (P=0.019). Furthermore, every 1 μm thicker in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness was associated with a 0.24 denser in WIAVD (P<0.0001) and a 0.23 denser in WICVD (P<0.0001). Each 1-dB improvement in mean deviation (MD) was linked to a 0.75 increase in WIAVD (P<0.0001) and a 0.83 increase in WICVD (P<0.0001). Additionally, a 1 mmHg increase in intraocular pressure was associated with a 0.5 decrease in WIAVD (P<0.009) in univariate analysis and a 0.31 decrease in multivariate analysis (P<0.012). Multivariate analysis revealed that patients with ADS>10,000 had 1.75 higher WIAVD and 1.64 higher WICVD compared to those with ADS≤10,000 after adjusting for other risk factors.

Conclusion: POAG patients with ADS>10,000 exhibited higher papillary VD compared to those with ADS≤10,000, implying that increasing daily steps, particularly exceeding 10,000 steps, may potentially enhance ocular blood flow.