Affiliation:
1. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Burdur Turkey
Abstract
AbstractBackgroundTo date, there are no studies on the impact of two distinct environments—one familiar to the horse and another unfamiliar—on intraocular pressure (IOP) and tear production.ObjectivesTo compare the measured IOP and tear production values in horses between a horse stable and a medical barn.Study designCross‐over.MethodsThirty healthy male Arabian horses, aged 6.88 ± 3.34 years were used. IOP and tear production measurements were assessed in both the horse stable and the medical barn, with a paired Student's t‐test and Bland–Altman analysis conducted for comparison and agreement, respectively.ResultsA significant increase in IOP was observed in the medical barn (34.2 ± 6.8 mmHg) compared with the horse stable (29.5 ± 7.2 mmHg, p = 0.02). However, no statistically significant difference in tear production was found between horse stable (22.1 ± 2.8 mm/min) and medical barn (23.6 ± 3.4 mm/min) (p = 0.09). The standard error of the slope was 0.36 for the IOP measured in the medical barn, indicating a difference of −4.7 mmHg compared with the IOP measured in the horse stable (p = 0.02). The bias was fitted to y = −7.9350 + 0.1003x. The standard error of the slope was 0.39 for the tear production measured in the medical barn, indicating a difference of −1.5 mm/min compared with the tear production measured in the horse stable (p = 0.09). The bias was fitted to y = 6.1530 + −0.3367x.Main limitationsThe absence of horses with ocular disorders and an assessment of the potential impact of transportation.ConclusionsA notable increase in IOP was observed in the medical barn compared with the horse stable, while tear production exhibited no significant variance between the two environments. The Bland–Altman analysis highlighted a discrepancy in IOP measurements in the horse stable, emphasising the potential influence of the environment on ocular parameters in horses.