Abstract
Visual impairment is a global health problem that leads to poor quality of life. The aim of the study was to examine the dose–response relationship between alcohol consumption and incident visual impairment (VI). This longitudinal cohort study consisted of 287,352 Korean adults who attended health screenings between March 2011 and December 2017 and were followed for up to 8.8 years (median, 4.9 years). Participants were categorized based on their average alcohol consumption. VI was defined as bilateral visual acuity (VA) worse than 0.3 logMAR. We identified 8320 cases of new-onset bilateral VI (incidence rate, 6.0/1000 person-years). Increased alcohol intake was positively and dose-dependently associated with elevated incidence of VI (ptrend < 0.001). With lifetime abstinence (reference), the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) (95% confidence intervals (CIs)) for incident VI with alcohol intake of <10, 10 to <20, 20–39.9, and ≥40 g/day were 1.07 (0.96–1.19), 1.15 (1.03–1.30), 1.15 (1.01–1.30), and 1.23 (1.08–1.40), respectively. Frequent binge drinking (≥once/per week) was associated with elevated risk of VI (HRs, 1.22; 95% CIs: 1.13–1.32). Former drinkers, particularly men, were at a higher risk for incident VI than lifetime abstainers. Similar associations were observed on evaluating changes in alcohol consumption and other confounders as time-varying covariates. Alcohol consumption, both in moderation and excess, was associated with increased VI incidence.
Highlights
Introduction iationsVisual impairment (VI) is an important public health problem for an aging population [1,2]
This study the aimed to examine the longitudinal association ofand alcohol convaried greatly and/or the data interpretation were restricted of cross-sectional sumption and drinking patterns with the development of visual impairment (VI),because while evaluating for timedesign, small sampleofsize, lack in ofalcohol analysisdrinking on differential effect by sex, or disregard dependent measures change status and other confounders overfor the differential impact of former and binge drinking
Increased alcohol intake categories were positively associated with an increased risk of incident VI in a dose–response manner
Summary
Visual impairment (VI) is an important public health problem for an aging population [1,2]. VI is associated with low vision-related quality of life, injury, and depression [3,4,5,6]. The exact mechanism of VI is not entirely understood; major vision loss causing ocular diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts, increase with age [7]. Identifying reversible causes of VI can help preserve quality of life and decrease the accompanying health burden. Alcohol is a well-known modifiable risk factor for the several major diseases worldwide [9]. Long-term periods of alcohol consumption or binge drinking damage multiple organs, mainly causing liver diseases. Alcohol induces oxidative stress that produces reactive oxygen species owing to ethanol metabolism, resulting in the malfunction of tissues
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