The Jidong Eye Cohort Study: objectives, design, and baseline characteristics

Kai Yang,Fan Lu,Binbin Su,Daiyu Song,Yang Zheng,Yunfan Xiao,Guoyun Zhang,Lele Cui,Jia Qu,Xiaoxuan Zhu,Ming Li,Xinyao Zhang,Xianwei Wang

doi:10.1186/s40662-020-00223-1

Abstract

BackgroundTo describe the objective, design and baseline characteristics of the Jidong Eye Cohort Study (JECS), a community-based cohort in China based on etiology, imaging and biomarkers. The JECS will clarify the pathogenesis of visual impairment and status of ocular indicators in the occurrence and progression of cardio-cerebrovascular and neurological diseases.MethodsBetween August 2019 and January 2020, the JECS recruited consecutive participants aged 18 years and older from the Jidong communities in China. The demographic and clinical characteristics were collected by trained site personnel via face-to-face interviews. The relevant biological samples were also collected. The participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination, such as retinal photography and optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography. The following outcomes were measured annually: ocular vascular abnormality, optic nerve degeneration, cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and neurological diseases. The study will be performed until 2024.ResultsAmong 3377 participants, the average age was 45.0 ± 12.5 years and 1809 (53.6%) were women. Hypertension occurred in 825 individuals (25.0%), diabetes in 258 (7.7%), hyperglycemia in 474 (14.2%), and a CVD history in 100 (3.0%). The mean best-corrected visual acuity was 0.1 logMAR in the recruited subjects. The average OCT signal index was 8.2 ± 1.2. Additionally, the mean vessel densities for the entire measured area were 46.4% and 50.8% for the superficial and deep vascular complex, respectively. Mean area and perimeter of foveal avascular zone was 0.3 mm2 and 2.3 mm.ConclusionsThe JECS is a large community-based prospective cohort in North China. Rich data collected from this study will provide the opportunity to identify risk factors, imaging, and biomarkers of visual impairment (either ocular vascular anomalies or optic nerve degeneration) and to evaluate their associations with CVD and neurological diseases.

Highlights

To describe the objective, design and baseline characteristics of the Jidong Eye Cohort Study (JECS), a community-based cohort in China based on etiology, imaging and biomarkers
This study aims to evaluate the pathogenesis of visual impairment, including retinal vascular abnormality and optic nerve degeneration, and explore its association with cardiovascular or neurological disease in a community-based population
Specific aims The primary objectives of this study were to clarify the pathogenesis of visual impairment from long-term follow-up observation in the Jidong community based on detailed etiological investigation, imaging and biomarkers, and establish a predictive model of visual impairment

Summary

Introduction

Design and baseline characteristics of the Jidong Eye Cohort Study (JECS), a community-based cohort in China based on etiology, imaging and biomarkers. Retinal and choroidal vascular abnormalities, such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion and age-related macular degeneration, are the most common causes of irreversible visual impairment. It is critical to identify risk factors of visual impairment to prevent occurrence of ocular vascular abnormalities and optic nerve degeneration among middle-aged or older individuals with the use of images and biomarkers [9,10,11]. Identifying novel risk factors for vascular abnormalities and nerve degeneration is critical to improve the screening of CVD and cognitive impairment in the early stages. Given that retinal blood vessels are more and directly assessed, ocular vascular abnormality is being considered a prediction tool for the development of cerebrovascular disease [16,17,18,19,20]

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