Relationship Between Adult Body Height and Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Korean Nationwide Population-Based Survey

Abstract

Purpose : We conducted a nationwide population-based study to evaluate the association between adult body height and the risk of having age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among Koreans.

Methods : This cross-sectional study was based on data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008–2011. Healthy participants over 40 years of age were included in the analyses after excluding those without available data. The presence and severity of AMD were graded from standard fundus photographs using the protocol of the International Age-related Maculopathy Epidemiological Study Group. The association between body height and risk of having AMD was determined using multiple logistic regression analyses.

Results : Among a total of 8,435 participants, 544 (4.75%) had AMD: 502 (4.38%) with early AMD and 42 (0.37%) with late AMD (neovascular AMD or geographic atrophy). In multivariate-adjusted analyses, taller body height was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of AMD (adjusted OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.81–0.99; P=0.03), while body mass index (BMI) failed to show a statistical significance. An inverse association between body height and risk of having AMD was observed especially in participants under 65 years of age (adjusted OR, 0.78; 95% CI 0.67−0.90; P=0.001). Furthermore, body height showed an inverse association with the risk of having AMD among obese participants (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²) (adjusted OR, 0.74; 95% CI 0.59−0.92; P=0.007). A subgroup analysis by AMD type disclosed a significant inverse association of body height with early AMD (adjusted OR, 0.87; 95% CI 0.78−0.97; P<0.05) but not with late AMD.

Conclusions : Our results suggest that shorter body height is independently associated with increased risk of having AMD in a dose-response manner, especially early AMD in Koreans who are obese or under 65 years of age.

This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.