Background: Tobacco is one of the most abused drugs of all ages. It is said to alter the Intraocular Pressure and hence vulnerable to cause ocular disease. Aim: To study the Intraocular Pressure changes in smokers. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at Dept. of ophthalmology, Navodaya medical college on 20 healthy male smokers and 20 controls in age group of 20-50 years. Smokers included with history of smoking 10-20 cigarettes per day for duration of >5 years. Exclusion criteria involved any ocular pathology, hypertension, diabetes. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured using schiotz tonometer. Statistical analysis done by student t test. Results: The mean difference in right eye smokers is 17.08 ±3.06, right eye non-smokers is 13.70±2.66. The mean difference in left eye smokers is 17.25±2.75 , left eye non-smokers is 14.29±3.03.Thus it was observed that the mean difference in IOP changes amongst smokers was significantly increased in both right and left eye (p<0.05) when compared to non-smokers. Conclusion: It was observed that tobacco in the form of smoking increases intraocular pressure. Measuring intraocular pressure by schiotz tonometer is simple technique which can be done at periphery centers to detect high risk group for glaucoma.

Keywords: Intra Ocular Pressure; Smokers.