Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To report prevalence and factors associated with ARMD in a population based sample of Hispanics 50 yrs and older Methods: Proyecto VER is a population-based study of blindness and visual impairment of Hispanics in Arizona. Participants underwent complete ophthalmic evaluation including stereo fundus photography of fields 1, 2, and 4. All photographs for participants 50 yrs and older were graded using the Wisconsin Age Related Maculopathy Grading system. Early ARM was defined by the presence of soft indistinct drusen or the presence of any type of drusen associated with RPE depigmentation or increased retinal pigment. Late ARM was defined by the appearance of exudative macular degeneration or geographic atrophy. A home questionnaire and a clinic exam provided data on education, smoking and alcohol use, body mass index, blood pressure and treatment for hypertension. Data are presented for the right eye. Results: Sixty seven percent (3178) of original 4774 participants were 50 yrs of age or older. Of those 92% (2927) had fundus photographs of the right eye, and 91% (2673) of the photographs were of sufficient quality to grade early and late ARM. The overall prevalence of late ARM was 0.5%, no cases were observed before age 60 yrs, and the prevalence increased from 0.36% in the 60 to 69 yrs age group to 4.2% in the 80 yrs and older. Likewise, Early ARM was strongly associated with age with a prevalence of 5.7% in the 50 to 59 yrs age group, increasing to 21% in the 80 yrs and older. After adjusting for age, only two factors, presence of hypertension, and having previous cataract surgery were significantly associated with an increased risk of any ARMD (early and late), (OR 1.36, CI 1.03-1.78) and (OR 1.62, CI 1.09-2.42) respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence of ARMD (early or late) in Hispanics appears to be lower than in the White population. Previous cataract surgery may be associated with ARMD in this population, as has been found in other groups.Given the high prevalence of hypertension in Hispanics, the significant association ARMD needs further research.
Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: pre • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: ris