Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration among elderly patients attending Alexandria Main University Hospital

Abstract

Purpose The aim of the study was to estimate the age-specific and sex-specific prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among elderly patients attending Alexandria Main University Hospital. Study design A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Patients and methods Patients aged 55 years or older were randomly selected from those attending different outpatient clinics at Alexandria Main University Hospital. One thousand eyes of 532 patients were included in the study. They underwent full ophthalmic examination with fundus photography. The fundus photographs were graded into early and late AMD according to the International Age-Related Macular Epidemiological Study Group Classification system. Prevalence rates were calculated. Results The overall prevalence of AMD was 6.6%. The prevalence of early and late AMD was 5.3 and 2.4%, respectively. There was a significantly higher prevalence of early and late AMD among those aged at least 75 years as compared with other age groups. The prevalence of AMD among male participants was 9.2% compared with only 4.1% among female participants. When potential risk factors were analyzed, smokers and those suffering from hypertension were associated with a significantly higher prevalence of AMD than were nonsmokers or those without hypertension. Diabetes mellitus was not significantly associated with AMD. Conclusion In this study, the prevalence of early AMD in younger age groups was lower than that found in other population-based studies in western populations. The prevalence of AMD increased with age and was significantly higher among men and smokers.