BACKGROUND: Glaucoma is the irreversible and most common cause of the blindness globally. POAG (primary open angle glaucoma) is the most common subtype of glaucoma constituting to majority of glaucoma cases. The literature data is scarce on assessing effect of aerobic exercise in POAG subjects. AIMS: The present study was aimed to assess the influence of short and long-term aerobic exercises on the ocular perfusion pressure and intraocular pressure in subjects having primary open angle glaucoma. METHODS: The present study assessed 62 subjects having primary open angle glaucoma and using prostaglandin analog. 62 subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups of control and exercise. For short-term effects, all subjects did cycle exercise at moderate and high intensity of 20% and 60% Wmax for 10 and 5 minutes respectively. For long-term effects, control group comprised of subjects doing irregular exercise and exercise group subjects did jogging for 30 minutes at 6:00 to 10:00 am for 3 months and minimum 20 days a month with intensity reflected by target heart rate. RESULTS: Following short-term aerobic exercise, a significant increase in ocular perfusion pressure and a significant decrease in intraocular pressure was seen. Reduced intraocular pressure was related to gender, intensity of exercise, and baseline intraocular pressure. After long-term exercise of 3 months, alterations in intraocular pressure in exercise group showed a reduction. CONCLUSIONS: The present study concludes that a significant increase of ocular perfusion pressure and decrease of intraocular pressure depicts that aerobic exercise is advantageous for subjects having primary open-angle glaucoma and adequate aerobic exercises are appropriate in managing glaucoma subjects.

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