April 2010
Volume 51, Issue 13
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   April 2010
Abdominal Obesity - Not BMI - Increases Risk of Late AMD in Men
M. K. M. Adams; L. D. Robman; J. A. Simpson; K. Z. Aung; G. A. Makeyeva; G. G. Giles; D. R. English; R. H. Guymer; P. N. Baird
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • M. K. M. Adams
    Ocular Genetics Unit,
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, East Melbourne, Australia
  • L. D. Robman
    Macular Research Unit,
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, East Melbourne, Australia
  • J. A. Simpson
    Centre for Molecular Environmental Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • K. Z. Aung
    Macular Research Unit,
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, East Melbourne, Australia
  • G. A. Makeyeva
    Macular Research Unit,
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, East Melbourne, Australia
  • G. G. Giles
    Cancer Epidemiology Centre, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
  • D. R. English
    Centre for Molecular Environmental Genetic and Analytic Epidemiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • R. H. Guymer
    Macular Research Unit,
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, East Melbourne, Australia
  • P. N. Baird
    Ocular Genetics Unit,
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, East Melbourne, Australia
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  M.K.M. Adams, None; L.D. Robman, None; J.A. Simpson, None; K.Z. Aung, None; G.A. Makeyeva, None; G.G. Giles, None; D.R. English, None; R.H. Guymer, None; P.N. Baird, None.
  • Footnotes
    Support  NHMRC Grants 209057 and 251533, ORIA grants, J Reid Charitable Trust, Perpetual Trustees, Career Development Award (RG), Wagstaff Fellowship (LR), HN Puckle Fellowship (MA)
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science April 2010, Vol.51, 4540. doi:
  • Views
  • Share
  • Tools
    • Alerts
      User Alerts
      You are adding an alert for:
      Abdominal Obesity - Not BMI - Increases Risk of Late AMD in Men
      You will receive an email whenever this article is corrected, updated, or cited in the literature. You can manage this and all other alerts in My Account
      The alert will be sent to:
      ×
      This feature is available to authenticated users only.
      Sign In or Create an Account ×
    • Get Citation
      Citation

      M. K. M. Adams, L. D. Robman, J. A. Simpson, K. Z. Aung, G. A. Makeyeva, G. G. Giles, D. R. English, R. H. Guymer, P. N. Baird; Abdominal Obesity - Not BMI - Increases Risk of Late AMD in Men. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2010;51(13):4540.

      Download citation file:

      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

      ×
    • Get Permissions
  • Supplements
Abstract

Purpose: : Previous studies have provided conflicting evidence of the association between adiposity measures, most using BMI, and age related macular degeneration (AMD). Using five different adiposity measures we explored their association with AMD in a large Australian cohort study.

Methods: : Bilateral non-mydriatic digital retinal photos from 21,132 participants of the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study, aged 48 - 86 years at time of photography, were graded according to AMD phenotype. Polytomous logistic regression, adjusting for smoking status, ethnicity and age, was used to assess associations between AMD and each of the five adiposity measures: body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), waist circumference (WC), fat mass (FM), and body fat percentage (FP). BMI, WHR and WC were obtained from direct measurements. FM and FP were estimated from bioelectric impedance analysis.

Results: : Only the two measures of abdominal obesity were associated with an increase in risk for men for late AMD (WHR (scaled per 0.1): Odds Ratio 1.72, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.1-2.7, P= 0.018, WC (per 10cm): OR 1.4, CI 1.06 - 1.86, P=0.017) but no associations were observed with early AMD. For women, an increase in all adiposity measures was observed to be moderately protective for early AMD, whereas none of the adiposity measures were associated with late AMD. Overall for both sexes there was a weak negative association with higher BMI (>30) and early AMD (OR 0.83 CI: 0.71-0.97 P=0.017).

Conclusions: : Contrary to other studies, BMI was not associated with an increase in AMD risk. Our results indicate abdominal obesity is of greater importance than BMI, FM or FP in the risk of late AMD for men. The apparent weak protective effect from BMI >30, and for all adiposity measures for women, may reflect survival bias, as obesity is strongly associated with increased mortality. This bias may attenuate estimates of association across all AMD studies.

Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment 
© 2010, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Permission to republish any abstract or part of an abstract in any form must be obtained in writing from the ARVO Office prior to publication.
Copyright © 2024 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
×
×

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

Sign in or purchase a subscription to access this content. ×

You must be signed into an individual account to use this feature.

×
This site uses cookies. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our privacy policy.Accept