Abstract
Purpose: :
To examine the associations between smoking, ocular parameters and selected systemic parameters in the population of mainland China.
Methods: :
The Beijing Eye Study, a population-based study performed in 2001, included 4439 subjects (age 40+ years) out of 5324 subjects invited to participate (response rate 83.4%). The follow-up study performed in 2006 enrolled 3251 participants (follow-up rate:73.2%). It was held in rural and urban regions of Greater Beijing. The participants underwent an interview including questions for smoking habits and a detailed ophthalmic examination including photography of the cornea, lens and fundus.
Results: :
Information on smoking was obtained for 3214 (98.8%) subjects, out of whom 725 (22.6%) were current smokers and 317 (9.9%) were former smokers. In multivariate analysis, current and / or former smoking was significantly associated with the systemic parameters of male gender, rural region, lower level of education, and elevated serum concentration of cholesterol; and with the ocular parameters of hyperopic refractive error and higher intraocular pressure. Smoking was not significantly associated with size of alpha zone and beta zone of parapapillary atrophy, retinal vessel diameter, and prevalences of early age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and retinal vein occlusions.
Conclusions: :
In the adult population of mainland China, smoking was significantly associated with male gender, rural region, lower level of education, elevated serum concentration of cholesterol, hyperopia and higher intraocular pressure. In contrast to studies on other ethnic groups, smoking was not markedly associated with age-related macular degeneration, nor of glaucoma or retinal vein occlusions.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • vision and action