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. 2017 Apr 3;1(1):e000015.
doi: 10.1136/bmjophth-2016-000015. eCollection 2017.

The prevalence of visual symptoms in poppers users: a global survey

Andrew J Davies  1 , Rohan Borschmann  2   3 , Simon P Kelly  4 , John Ramsey  5 , Jason Ferris  6 , Adam R Winstock  7
Affiliations

The prevalence of visual symptoms in poppers users: a global survey

Andrew J Davies et al. BMJ Open Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Introduction and aims: The use of 'poppers' (volatile alkyl nitrites) has been associated with the development of visual symptoms secondary to the development of maculopathy. There are currently no data regarding the prevalence of this condition among poppers users. The aim of this study was to quantify the presence of visual symptoms among poppers users from a global cohort.

Design and methods: The Global Drug Survey (GDS) conducts annual anonymous online surveys of drug and alcohol use. Within the 2012 GDS, questions were inserted regarding the presence of visual symptoms in poppers users.

Results: The GDS received a total of 21 575 valid responses, with a total of 17 479 from the UK, Australia, USA and Eurozone. Within these areas, 5152 (29.5%) had used poppers within their lifetime and 1322 (7.6%) within the previous year. Of the 'last year' users, when asked the question: 'Do you think poppers use has affected your eyesight?', 29 (2.2%) people responded 'yes', 130 (10.0%) responded 'maybe' and 1146 (87.8%) responded 'no (17 people did not answer). Both multiple choice and free-text responses regarding the nature of visual symptoms correlated with the central visual disturbance that would be expected from maculopathy. There was significant increased symptom prevalence with age (likelihood ratio (χ2)=19.0; p<0.001).

Discussion and conclusions: This study demonstrates that a small, yet significant from a public health perspective, proportion of poppers users have visual symptoms. Clinical correlation is required to determine whether these reported symptoms are due to poppers associated maculopathy, or an alternative cause.

Keywords: Maculopathy; Nitrites; Public Health; Vision.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: ARW is the owner and founder of Global Drug Survey (GDS) and has previously provided expert opinion on the use, risk and potential for health harms to the legal team that represented Perpol (the biggest supplier of Isopropyl nitrite In Europe).

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