Menopausal Status and Central Corneal Thickness: Differences and Implications

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the Central Corneal Thickness (CCT) measured using ultrasonic pachymetry in pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women and discuss the need for incorporating menopausal status into glaucoma risk stratification and interpretation of IOP recordings. Materials and Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study for a period of 2 years from May 2023 to May 2025 conducted at the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Chennai. 300 eyes of 150 females were part of the study- 75 pre and post-menopausal women. Central Corneal Thickness (CCT) was measured using ultrasonic pachymetry and data analysed statistically as in Table 2. Results: In our study, the mean age of the pre-menopausal females was 42.253 ± 8.311 while the mean age of the post-menopausal females was found to be 60.053 ± 7.274. As expected, the mean age of Post-Menopausal Females was significantly higher than that of the pre-menopausal females (p-value <0.001). The mean central corneal thickness, as measured by ultrasonic pachymetry was found to be 546.63 ± 42.36 microns in the pre-menopausal category and 521.59 ± 32.02 microns in the post-menopausal category. An independent samples t-test revealed the CCT to be significantly lesser in post-menopausal females compared to pre-menopausal females. (t = 6.46, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: Menopause is thus associated with thinner CCT values and thus plays a pivotal role in the approach and evaluation of post-menopausal glaucoma patients.