Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2011 Aug;152(2):273-282.e3.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2011.02.004. Epub 2011 Jun 22.

Racial differences in age-related macular degeneration rates in the United States: a longitudinal analysis of a managed care network

Brian L Vanderbeek  1 , David N Zacks, Nidhi Talwar, Bin Nan, David C Musch, Joshua D Stein
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Racial differences in age-related macular degeneration rates in the United States: a longitudinal analysis of a managed care network

Brian L Vanderbeek et al. Am J Ophthalmol. 2011 Aug.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the incidence, prevalence, and hazard of nonexudative and exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among different races throughout the United States.

Design: Retrospective longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: Billing records of all encounters for 2 259 061 beneficiaries aged ≥40 enrolled in a large, national US managed care network from 2001 through 2007 were reviewed and the incidence and prevalence of nonexudative and exudative AMD were determined and stratified by race. Cox regression analyses determined the hazard of nonexudative and exudative AMD for each race, with adjustment for confounders.

Results: During the study, 113 234 individuals (5.0%) were diagnosed with nonexudative and 17 181 (0.76%) with exudative AMD. After adjustment for confounders, blacks had a significantly reduced hazard of nonexudative (hazard ratio [HR]=0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.79) and exudative AMD (HR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.59-0.83) at age 60 and a reduced hazard of nonexudative (HR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.52-0.60) and exudative AMD (HR=0.45, 95% CI: 0.37-0.54) at age 80 relative to whites. Similar comparisons for Latinos demonstrated an 18% reduced hazard for nonexudative AMD at age 80 (HR=0.82, 95% CI: 0.76-0.88) relative to whites. Asian Americans showed a 28% increased hazard for nonexudative AMD at age 60 (HR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.20-1.36) but a 46% decreased hazard for exudative AMD at age 80 (HR=0.54, 95% CI: 0.40-0.73).

Conclusions: Racial minorities, including Latinos and Asian Americans, do not appear to have similar risks of developing nonexudative and exudative AMD as whites. Additional studies using other sources should be conducted to determine the generalizability of this study's findings to other groups.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sample Selection Criteria to Identify Persons with Macular Degeneration for Inclusion in the Study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Sloan FA, Brown DS, Carlisle ES, et al. Estimates of incidence rates with longitudinal claims data. Arch Ophthalmology. 2003;121(10):1462–1468. - PubMed
    1. Congdon N, O'Colmain B, Klaver CC, et al. Eye Diseases Prevalence Research Group. Causes and prevalence of visual impairment among adults in the United States. Arch Ophthalmology. 2004;122(4):477–485. - PubMed
    1. Klein R, Klein BE, Linton KL. Prevalence of age-related maculopathy. The Beaver Dam Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 1992;99(6):933–943. - PubMed
    1. Cruickshanks KJ, Hamman RF, Klein R, et al. The prevalence of age-related maculopathy by geographic region and ethnicity. The Colorado-Wisconsin Study of Age-Related Maculopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1997;115(2):242–250. - PubMed
    1. Klein R, Klein BE, Jensen SC, et al. Age-related maculopathy in a multiracial United States population: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. Ophthalmology. 1999;106(6):1056–1065. - PubMed

Publication types