BACKGROUNDIntraocular pressure (IOP) is the key modifiable risk factor in glaucoma, a major public health problem, if undiagnosed can ultimately lead to irreversible blindness. The role of blood pressure (BP) in genesis of increased IOP has attracted attention besides being a modifiable problem. AIMS AND OBJECTIVESTo find out the correlation between blood pressure and intraocular pressure in a population of central Kerala and to assess the age and gender related changes in IOP. METHODSA cross sectional study was conducted in apparently healthy 487 patients aged between 20-80 years who attended Ophthalmology Outpatient Department at Kottayam Medical College. Blood Pressure was measured using sphygmomanometer in the right arm in sitting posture after 5 minutes of rest and IOP was measured using Schiotz tonometer. RESULTSPositive correlation between BP (Systolic and diastolic BP) and IOP was obtained. The correlation was statistically highly significant in males of all age groups except 41-60 age group and females of all age groups except 20-40 years. (p value< 0.05). Rise in IOP with age was statistically significant in males. There was no statistically significant difference in mean IOP values of males and females. Systolic and diastolic BP increased with age in both genders and found to be statistically significant. CONCLUSIONThe study showed a positive correlation of SBP, DBP and IOP in both males and females. Hence, a routine evaluation of BP and IOP in outpatient departments becomes essential in this pretext and a population based screening for elevated IOP and BP could reduce the risk of glaucoma and hypertension in future by controlling elevated IOP and pre-hypertensives. ABBREVIATION LISTIOP -Intraocular Pressure, SBP -Systolic Blood Pressure; DBP -Diastolic Blood Pressure.

BACKGROUNDLearning environment in any medical school is found to be important in determining students' academic success. But one deterrent factor has been the lack of students' perceptions about the educational atmosphere in their institution. This study was undertaken to compare the perceptions of preclinical (year 1), paraclinical (year 3) and clinical phase (year 5) students regarding the learning environment at Government medical college, Alappuzha in Kerala and also to identify the gender wise differences in their perception using DREEM (Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure).