Prevalence Of Early Age-related Macular Degeneration Research Articles

Age-Related Macular Degeneration in a Screened South Korean Population: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Subtypes

Purpose: To identify the prevalence, risk factors, and subtypes of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a screened South Korean population. Methods: A total of 10,890 participants (aged 50–92) who underwent a health check-up at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital from January to December 2006 were included. Fundus photographs and systemic risk factors were assessed. Subtype frequencies of neovascular AMD were recorded according to angiograms. AMD was defined in accord with the international classification and grading system. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify risk factors for AMD. Results: The mean age of the 10,890 participants was 57.2 ± 6.3 years (50–92 years), and 56.2% were men. The age-gender-adjusted prevalence of early AMD was 5.07%. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR per 10-year increment, 2.22) and high blood pressure (adjusted OR: 1.35) were independent risk factors for early AMD. The age-gender-adjusted prevalence of late AMD was 0.34%. Only age was significantly associated with late AMD. Of 9 exudative AMD patients who received fluorescein angiography or indocyanine green angiography, 6 eyes (66.7%) showed choroidal neovascularization, 2 eyes (22.2%) had polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), and 1 eye (11.1%) had retinal angiomatous proliferation. Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of early AMD was similar to other studies though the prevalence of late AMD was low. High blood pressure as well as age was a risk factor of early AMD. South Koreans may have a higher prevalence of PCV than white populations. These findings provide preliminary information for further investigation of AMD in South Koreans.

Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in a Malay Population: The Singapore Malay Eye Study

To describe the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in an Asian Malay population.Population-based cross-sectional study.An age-stratified random sample of Malay persons aged 40 to 80 years living in Singapore.Participants were invited to a central clinic for a comprehensive examination.Early and late AMD signs were graded from retinal photographs following the Wisconsin grading system.Of 3280 participants who participated (78.7% response rate), 3265 had photographs of sufficient quality for grading of AMD signs. Early and late AMD were present in 160 (4.9%) and 23 (0.70%) participants, respectively. After age standardization, the prevalence of early AMD in Malay persons aged 40 to 80 years was estimated to be 3.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.9%-4.1%) and that of late AMD was 0.34% (95% CI, 0.20%-0.49%). Early AMD was more prevalent in men than in women (6.1% vs. 3.8%); this was significant despite adjusting for age and smoking (odds ratio [OR], 1.56; 95% CI, 1.11-2.20). Late AMD also was more prevalent in men than in women (1.0% vs. 0.4%), although this was not statistically significant after adjusting for age and smoking (OR, 1.39; 95% CI, 0.52-3.68). The prevalence of early and late AMD was similar to that reported in the Blue Mountains Eye Study among white persons.The prevalence of AMD in Asian Malay people is similar to that in white persons from the Blue Mountains Eye Study. Early AMD signs were more frequent in men compared with women, an association that was not fully explained by the higher smoking rates in men.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Age-Related Macular Degeneration in an Adult Japanese Population: The Funagata Study

To describe the prevalence and risk factors for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a Japanese population and to compare these with data from a white population. Population-based cross-sectional epidemiologic study. A population-based sample of Japanese persons 35 years or older from Funagata, Japan. The Funagata study is a population-based study of 1758 (43% of eligible) Japanese persons 35 years or older from Funagata, Japan. In 2000 to 2002, 1625 (92.4%) participants had a nonmydriatic fundus photograph of one eye with sufficient quality for grading of AMD lesions, using the Wisconsin protocol. Age-standardized prevalence rates compared with the Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES) population, odds ratios (ORs), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Risk factors were assessed by logistic regression. Early and late AMD. Of 1625 participants, early AMD and late AMD were present in 3.5% and 0.5%, respectively. Age-standardized early AMD prevalence in right eyes was 4.1%, similar to the corresponding prevalence of 4.4% in the BMES. For men, age-standardized prevalences of late AMD in right eyes were 1.1% and 1.2% in the BMES; for women, the corresponding prevalences were 0.3% and 2.1%, respectively. Increasing age (per 10 years; gender-adjusted OR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.10-4.67) and current cigarette smoking (age- and gender-adjusted OR, 5.03; 95% CI, 1.00-25.47) were associated with late AMD. In this Japanese population, prevalence of early AMD was similar to that for whites in the BMES. Although the late AMD prevalence was lower in Japanese women, in Japanese men it was similar to that in whites. This could have resulted from the substantially high proportion of Japanese men who are smokers. Cigarette smoking and increasing age were the 2 principal factors found associated with late AMD.

Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in a Population-Based Sample of Hispanic People in Arizona: Proyecto VER

To report the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a population-based sample of Hispanic individuals aged 50 years and older. Proyecto VER (Vision and Eye Research) is a population-based study of blindness and visual impairment of Hispanic people in Arizona. Participants underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation, including stereoscopic fundus photography of fields 1, 2, and 4. All photographs for participants aged 50 years and older were graded using the Wisconsin Age-Related Maculopathy Grading system. The following signs were graded: drusen size, drusen type, and the area covered by drusen; pigmentary abnormalities; geographic atrophy; and exudative AMD. Sixty-seven percent (3178) of the original 4774 participants were 50 years of age or older. Of those, 92% (2928) had fundus photographs in at least 1 eye, and 95% (2780) of the photographs were of sufficient quality to grade early and late AMD. The overall prevalence of late AMD was 0.5%. The prevalence increased from 0.1% in the 50- to 59-year age group to 4.3% in the group aged 80 years and older. Likewise, early AMD was strongly associated with age with a prevalence of 20% in the 50- to 59-year age group, increasing to 54% in the group aged 80 years and older. The prevalence of early AMD in Hispanic people was significantly higher than the reported prevalence in the white population. However, the prevalence of late AMD was lower than the estimates for the white population of the United States. Although early macular changes were very common among Hispanic people, the prevalence of late AMD was infrequent. Further work is necessary to understand the underlying reasons for the different patterns of presentation of early and late signs of AMD among racial/ethnic groups and to characterize early AMD based on predictive value for severe disease in different populations.

Hormone Replacement Therapy, Reproductive Factors, and Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Project

Purpose: To evaluate a potential relationship between hormone replacement therapy (HRT), reproductive factors and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: 1,458 female participants (age 65–84) from the Salisbury Eye Evaluation study were available for this cross-sectional analysis. AMD outcomes were identified by reading center assessment of fundus photographs. Results: Women who currently used HRT had a lower adjusted odds of large drusen (> 125 μ m) (OR = 0.5, 95% CI 0.2–1.0). Use of HRT was not statistically significantly associated with the prevalence of early AMD or advanced AMD, although the odds ratios were all much less than 1. Women who had had an increased number of births had a greater prevalence of large drusen (test of linear trend, p = 0.03). Conclusions: Current use of HRT was associated with a lower odds of large drusen, which may be predictive of advanced AMD. No statistically significant correlations were found between HRT or reproductive factors and early or advanced AMD.

Who should receive oral supplement treatment for age-related macular degeneration?

Oxidative damage to the retina has been proposed as a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Dietary or supplemental antioxidants may play a protective role. The Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS), a randomized, multicenter, placebo-controlled clinical trial designed to test the effect of pharmacologic doses of antioxidants and zinc on the incidence and progression of AMD, reported a beneficial effect of high-dose supplements, taken for approximately 6 years, in delaying the progression of intermediate AMD to advanced AMD. AREDS and subsequent research on dietary intake or supplement use have not indicated a protective role of antioxidant or zinc intake or supplement use in the incidence or prevalence of early AMD. Numbers of cases were insufficient to investigate effects on late AMD. Persons with intermediate AMD and without contraindications should consider using antioxidant and zinc supplements. There is no evidence to date that earlier use conveys benefit.