Abstract
Purpose :
Individuals with an abnormal birth are at risk of having ophthalmic complications and visual impairment. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between self-reported birth measures and (1) vision-related quality of life (VR-QoL) and (2) the presence of myopia in adults in the general population.
Methods :
We used data from Lifelines, a population-based cohort study conducted in the north of Netherlands (n=167,000). We included individuals who were above 17 years of age, who had completed the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ)-25, and when data on birth measures and myopia were available. This resulted in 16,362 participants (age (mean [SD]): 42[8.4]; sex: 65% females). Included birth measures were gestation length, birth weight, length at birth, birth type, and the presence of birth defects. We used ordinal regression models with NEI-VFQ-25 items as dependent variable and a binary logistic regression model with myopia as dependent variable, with the birth measures as independent variables. All models were adjusted for age and gender; the model involving myopia was additionally adjusted for educational attainment. The Lifelines study was approved by the ethical board of University Medical Center Groningen.
Results :
Participants with birth defects at risk of causing abnormal brain or eye development showed poor VR-QoL in all subscales (OR 1.31-2.11, p<0.01). Individuals with low length at birth showed worse VR-QoL in the subscales general vision (OR 1.22, P=0.01) and low luminance (OR 1.25, p=0.04). People with high birth weight scored poor in distance related VR-QoL (OR 1.24, p=0.03). Individuals who had Cesarean-section birth type showed poor VR-QoL in the low luminance (OR 1.32, p=0.01) and peripheral visual activities (OR 1.36, p=0.01) subscales. In univariable analysis, individuals born in the 37th week of gestation (OR 1.21, p=0.03), with low birth weight (OR 1.20, p=0.01), or low length (OR 1.18, p=0.03) had higher odds of having myopia. In the multivariable analysis, participants with birth defects without risk of eye and brain abnormality (OR 1.22, p=<0.01) and those with middle (OR 1.43, p=<0.001) and higher education (OR 2.07, p=<0.001) had a higher odds of having myopia.
Conclusions :
At the level of the general population, birth measures have a long-term impact on some aspects of VR-QoL and myopia.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.