Age-related macular degeneration: Prevalence and risk factors - a cross-sectional study : The Tromsø Study 2007/2008
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an important cause of visual impairment and blindness worldwide. The number of people\naffected by the disease is expected to rise due to increasing longevity. Development of adequate eye care for these patients should be based\non knowledge about the prevalence of AMD. Further, preventive measures are the best strategy for any disease. The aims of this thesis\nwere to estimate the prevalence of AMD and examine risk factors associated with AMD.\nWe described prevalence rates of AMD among Caucasian elderly participants from the Tromsø Eye Study, a population-based study in Norway. The overall prevalence of late AMD was 3.5 % among the participants aged 65-87 years old. Neovascular AMD outnumbered geographic atrophy. Symmetry between eyes was relatively low.\nPrevalence increased strongly with age. No significant sex differences in prevalence rates of AMD were observed. Refractive error was\nlower in eyes with late AMD than in eyes without late AMD.\nWe then analysed relationships between traditional cardiovascular risk factors and AMD. Daily smoking was a strong predictor for the\npresence of late AMD. We found a significant interaction between age and sex for late AMD, suggesting that age may be a stronger risk\nfactor for late AMD in women than in men. Higher systolic blood pressure, higher pulse pressure, infrequent physical exercise and overweight or obesity were in adjusted analyses associated with late AMD in females, but this was not observed in men.\nBased on our observation of sex and AMD, we studied associations between female hormone related factors and AMD. We found a significant inverse relationship between duration of lactation and late AMD. No significant relationships were found between late AMD and\nexogenous oestrogen exposure in the form of contraceptives or hormone therapy. Nor did we find an association between late AMD and onset, end or length of fertile years, bilateral oophorectomy or parity as surrogate measures.
Author: Maja Gran Erke
Language: English
Subfield: Ophthalmology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1036516282