Abstract
Purpose:
To determine the prevalence and potential risk factors of retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in a large ethnically diverse population of older Australians examined in one setting of a single cohort
Methods:
The non-mydriatic digital colour retinal images of 21,241 participants from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS), which examined the role of diet, lifestyle and genetic predispositions in the causation of common chronic diseases, were assessed for the presence of central or branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO or BRVO, respectively).. Eighty six percent of participants were of Anglo-Celtic origin born in Australia/New Zealand or United Kingdom, the remainder were migrants from Greece, Italy or Malta (Southern European origin). Non-mydriatic digital retinal photography was implemented by the Centre for Eye Research Australia at MCCS follow up (2003-2007); anthropometric data collection, laboratory tests and comprehensive questionnaires regarding lifestyle, dietary intakes and health condition were completed by the Cancer Council Victoria between 1990 and 1994.
Results:
The overall prevalence of RVO was 0.5% (n=104) (95% CI 0.4, 0.6). RVO was strongly associated with increasing age (p <0.001), and RVO prevalence was different for those of Southern European origin (0.8%) and Anglo-Celtic origin (0.4%) (Chi sq p=0.01). In multivariate logistic regression model, adjusted for age and sex, the factors significantly associated with increased odd of RVO were higher blood pressure Odd Ratio (ORs) 1.57 [95% CI, 1.02,2.42], p = 0.04, current smoker ORs 2.09, [95% CI, 1.17, 3.73], p=0.01 and Southern European origin, ORs 1.58 [95% CI, 1.00, 2.53], p = 0.05. No association was detected between RVO and high cholesterol levels, diabetes, history of angina, heart attack, stroke, body mass index or waist-hip-ratio.
Conclusions:
The adjusted prevalence of RVO in the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort study, participants of Southern European origin is about 1.6 times higher than amongst those of Anglo-Celtic origin, which may reflect genetic or lifestyle differences and require further investigation. This is the first direct comparison of the RVO prevalence between participants of Anglo-Celtic and Southern European origin examined in one setting, using the same methodology.
Keywords: 463 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence •
459 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: biostatistics/epidemiology methodology •
688 retina