Abstract
Purpose: :
To describe the distributions of retinal vessel diameters and the prevalence of generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing in urban and rural Beijing, and to explored its associated factors.
Methods: :
The Beijing Eye Study (BES), a population-based study in Beijing defined population, was registered 5324 subjects who were 40 years old or more, in which 4439 (83.4%) subjects attended. Questionnaires and detail ophthalmological examinations were conducted in every attended subjects. Color photographys of fundus were morphometrically assessed. One eye per person was selected randomly to be assessed. Retinal vessel diameters were assessed using quantitive methods by computer software. Average retinal vessel diameters were summarized as central retinal artery equivalent (CRAE) and central retinal vein equivalent (CRVE). The lowest quintile of arteriole-to-venule ratio (AVR) was used to define generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing.
Results: :
In the population, Means and standard deviation of CRAE, CRVE, and AVR were 149.8+/-13.40, 223.4+/-19.31, and 0.67+/-0.06 in elderly Chinese in Beijing.Both CRAE and CRVE decreased with aging (P<0.001), however,AVR was keep stable (P=0.307); AVR were significantly smaller in rural population than in urban ones (0.67 vs 0.68, P<0.001).The prevalence of generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing was 20.6%. There were no significant difference of the prevalence of generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing among different age groups (P=0.441), but the prevalence was significantly increased in men (24.4%), comparing with in women (17.6%, P<0.001); it was more frequent in rural than in urban population (P<0.001). Using Logistic regression, the risk factors of generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing included gender (in men, OR=1.553, 95%CI:1.316~1.832), rural (OR=1.437, 95%CI:1.214~1.704), hypertension history (OR=1.544, 95%CI:1.271~1.877), and coronary heart disease history (OR=0.681, 95%CI:0.519~0.893).
Conclusions: :
Generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing is common in elderly Chinese population aged 40 or more in Beijing defined population. Generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing is more frequent in rural population than in urban population. Arterial hypertension is the most important systemic cause of generalized retinal arteriolar narrowing in population without diabetes.
Keywords: retina • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment