Abstract
Purpose::
To describe the prevalence of corneal arcus and its association with cardiovascular risk factors in Malay adults in Singapore.
Methods::
A population-based, cross-sectional study of 3,280 (78.7% response rate) Malays aged 40-80 years in Singapore. The population was selected based on an age-stratified random sampling procedure of Malay people living in the south-western part of Singapore. Participants had an interview, examination and ocular imaging at a centralized study clinic. Corneal arcus was defined from a standardized clinical examination. Non fasting blood samples were collected for measurement of serum total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, blood glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin. Prevalence rates were adjusted to the 2000 Singapore census population.
Results::
Of the 3,271 included in this analysis, 1899 persons had corneal arcus in either eye, giving a crude prevalence of 58.1% (95% confidence intervals [CI], 56.4, 59.8) and age-adjusted prevalence of 52.5% (95% CI 52.4, 52.9). The prevalence increased with age (44.0%, 57.7%, 63.3%, 68.6%, comparing age groups in decades, p<0.001) and was higher in men than women (64.1% vs 52.4%, p<0.001). After controlling for age and gender, corneal arcus was associated higher systolic blood pressure (odds ratio [OR] 1.4, 95% CI 1.1, 1.7, comparing 4th vs 1st quartile), higher diastolic blood pressure (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2, 1.7), higher glycosylated hemoglobin (OR 1.2, 95% CI, 1.0, 1.4) and higher HDL-cholesterol (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.1, 1.6). Corneal arcus was not significantly associated with diabetes, hypertension and cigarette smoking status, and total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and blood glucose levels.
Conclusions::
This study shows a high prevalence of corneal arcus in an adult Malay population. Corneal arcus was associated with older age, male gender, and higher blood pressure, but not with diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and cigarette smoking.
Keywords: cornea: clinical science • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: biostatistics/epidemiology methodology • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence