Neighborhood Deprivation and Risk of Age-Related Eye Diseases: A Follow-up Study in Sweden

Abstract

Purpose: To examine whether there is an association between neighborhood deprivation and age-related eye diseases, particularly macular degeneration, cataract, diabetes-related eye complications, and glaucoma.Methods: The study population comprised a nationwide sample of 2,060,887 men and 2,250,851 women aged 40 years or older living in Sweden who were followed from 1 January 2000 until the first hospitalization/outpatient registration for age-related eye disease during the study period, death, emigration, or the end of the study period on 31 December 2010. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate the association between neighborhood deprivation and age-related eye diseases.Results: In men, the odds ratio (OR) for age-related eye diseases for those living in high-deprivation neighborhoods compared to those living in low-deprivation neighborhoods remained significant after adjustment for potential confounding factors (macular degeneration, OR 1.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.03–1.12; cataract, OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.26–1.35; diabetes-related eye complications, OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.30–1.43; glaucoma, OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.06–1.15). In women, similar patterns were observed (macular degeneration, OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.07–1.15; cataract, OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.31–1.40; diabetes-related eye complications, OR 1.50, 95% CI 1.42–1.59; glaucoma, OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.08–1.17).Conclusion: Our results suggest that neighborhood deprivation is associated with age-related eye diseases in both men and women. These results implicate that individual- as well as neighborhood-level factors are important for preventing age-related eye diseases.