Abstract
Purpose: :
To determine the prevalence of epiretinal membranes (ERM) in an adult Japanese population.
Methods: :
The Funagata Study is a population–based study in adult Japanese with 1,758 subjects (43% of eligible residents), age 35 years old or over in Funagata town, Yamagata, Japan (2000–02). Retinal photographs of right eyes were taken using a non–mydriatic fundus camera (CR5–NM45, Canon Inc. Tokyo and TRC NW, Topcon Inc. Tokyo), centered on the region of optic disc and the macula. 1,728 participants (98.3%) had good quality photographs suitable for grading of ERM. Physical examinations and interviews were performed. ERM was defined to include cellophane macular reflex (CMR), an early stage sign, and pre–retinal macular fibrosis (PMF, also termed surface wrinkling), a late stage sign. Multiple logistic regression analysis, with age, gender, blood pressure, diabetes, serum cholesterol, serum HDL cholesterol, serum triglycerides, body fat ratio and body mass index, was performed to determine risk factors for ERM.
Results: :
Of 1,728 participants, PMF and CMR was present in 27 (1.6%) and 80(4.6%), respectively. In participants aged 50+ years, PMF and CMR was found in 25(1.9%) and 70(5.2%), respectively. The prevalence of any ERM increased with age (p for trend p<0.001), and it was higher in women (7.0%) than men (6.5%), but this was not significant (p=0.16). Multiple logistic regression showed that age was significantly associated with ERM (odds ratio: 1.053, 95% confidence interval 1.033–1.074, p<0.0001). After adjusted for age and sex, no other factors were found to be statistically associated with ERM.
Conclusions: :
Compared to the prevalence rates reported in white populations (ERM 7.0%, CMR 4.8% and PMF 2.2% in the Blue Mountains Eye study, Ophthalmology 104:1033–, 1997), we found an overall similar prevalence of ERM, CMR or PMF in this Japanese adult population.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • retina