Dietary Patterns and Age-Related Macular Degeneration Within the Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study

Abstract

Purpose: : To investigate the dietary patterns of a population based cohort, with the aim of identifying foods and nutrients that may impact age-related macular degeneration (AMD) risk.

Methods: : The Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE) study includes 2,520 non-institutionalized Salisbury, MD residents age 65 to 84 years. Responses from a 91-item food frequency questionnaire were used in principal component analysis to determine dietary patterns among 2,358 participants with complete dietary data, who consumed between 600 and 6,000 Kcals/day, and had graded fundus images from at least one eye. Using factor analysis, seven dietary patterns were extracted based on resulting scree plots and eigenvalues. Patterns were also examined among white (N=1,764) participants alone. Due to small sample size and low prevalence of AMD, dietary patterns were not examined among blacks (N=594). The association between the composite score from each pattern and the risk of AMD (pigment abnormalities and advanced AMD) was evaluated with logistic regression analyses, using eye as the unit of analysis, and adjusting for age, sex, race, and smoking status.

Results: : A 40% reduction in the odds of pigment abnormalities was observed for the 3^rd score tertile compared to the 1^st of the pea/green bean dietary pattern for both the total study population (OR_{3rd v.1st} =0.6; 95% CI: 0.4-1.0) and whites alone (OR_{3rd v.1st}=0.6; 95% CI: 0.3-1.0). Null associations were reported between this pattern and advanced AMD for both groups. However, associations with advanced AMD differed between these groups for the fruit pattern (total population OR_{3rd v.1st} =0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-1.0; whites OR_{3rd v.1st} =1.2; 95% CI: 0.5-2.5), and the fried food pattern (total population OR_{2nd v.1st} =2.2; 95% CI: 1.0-4.8; whites OR_{2nd v.1st} =0.8; 95% CI: 0.4-1.8).

Conclusions: : Caution is warranted when examining dietary patterns in a multi racial population. Pigment abnormality may be related to a specific pattern in white populations.

Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment