Abstract
Purpose :
To examine the association between aspirin intake and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) an adult multiethinic Asian population in Singapore.
Methods :
The Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Disease (SEED) Study is a population-based study, comprising three major ethnic groups (Chinese, Malays and Indians) in Singapore. A total of 10,033 individuals 40 years of age or older participated in the study. Participants underwent a comprehensive ocular examination, including dilated fundus photography. AMD signs were graded from retinal images following the modified Wisconsin grading system. Information on aspirin intake was obtained from a standardised questionnaire.
Results :
Aspirin use was reported by 7.6 % of participants [Chinese (6.5%), Malays (4.9%) and Indians (11.4%)]. Any AMD were present among 10.9 % of aspirin users and 6.3 % of non-aspirin users (P<0.001). After adjusting for potential confounders, including age, gender, smoking history, blood pressure and ethnicity, aspirin use was not associated with any AMD (OR 1.03; 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.33; P=0.831), early AMD (OR 1.09; 95% CI: 0.83 to 1.42; P=0.517) or late AMD (OR 0.84; 95% CI: 0.23 to 1.33; P=0.252). In stratified analysis, aspirin use was significantly associated with early AMD in Indians (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.23; P=0.032) but not in Chinese (adjusted OR 0.83; 95% CI 0.50 to 1.32; P=0.447) and Malays (adjusted OR 0.96; 95% CI 0.48 to 1.77; P=0.911), after adjusting for age and gender; however, this association was not observed for any AMD or late AMD.
Conclusions :
Aspirin use overall was not associated with AMD. Only a marginal association between aspirin use and early AMD was found in Indians; however, this finding must be considered very cautiously.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.