Abstract
Purpose :
Exhaust fume exposure is proposed to cause oxidative stress, a mechanism which also plays a role in the development of glaucoma. We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study to investigate the association between occupational exposure to exhaust fumes and glaucoma in the subjects of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
Methods :
This study included data from 2,073 participants in NHANES between 2007 and 2008 who were aged 40 years and older, had gradable data on retinal images and Frequency Doubling Technology (FDT), and responded to occupation questionnaires. The presence of glaucoma was assessed using retinal images and FDT, according to the Rotterdam criteria. The exposure of interest was occupational exposure to exhaust fumes. Logistic regression modeling was done to examine the association between exhaust fume exposure and glaucoma, while controlling for gender, age, ethnicity, and occupational physical activity. All estimates were then weighted based on the NHANES sampling design.
Results :
2,073 subjects met inclusion criteria, corresponding to a weighted sample of 81,368,400 subjects. 116 (5.6%) subjects met the definition of glaucoma, corresponding to a 4.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.7%-5.3%, n = 3,244,263) glaucoma prevalence in the US. In the weighted NHANES sample, 27.3% subjects reported exposure to occupational exhaust fumes. Of those exposed to exhaust fumes, 2.7% had glaucoma, a lower proportion of glaucoma than those reporting no exposure to exhaust fumes (4.4%), resulting in an odds ratio (OR) of 0.59 (95% CI 0.274-1.27; p=0.18). Upon dividing the years of exhaust fumes exposure into quartiles, a statistically significantly decreased prevalence of glaucoma was observed among those with 0-4 years of exhaust fume exposure compared to those without exposure, after controlling for potential confounders (OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.17-0.87).
Conclusions :
In NHANES, participants with exposure to exhaust fumes at their job had lower odds of having glaucoma compared to those who had never been exposed, especially among those with a short time period (0-4 years) of exposure. These results indicate an opportunity to study the components of exhaust fumes as potential agents for future treatments.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.