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Comparative Study
. 2021 Jan 1;139(1):85-92.
doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2020.5114.

Association of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Incidence With Myopia Prevalence in the Netherlands

Redmer van Leeuwen  1 , Annechien E G Haarman  2   3 , Mathijs A J van de Put  4 , Caroline C W Klaver  2   3   5   6 , Leonoor I Los  7   8 ; Dutch Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Study Group
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Association of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Incidence With Myopia Prevalence in the Netherlands

Redmer van Leeuwen et al. JAMA Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Importance: The incidence of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) is partly determined by its risk factors, such as age, sex, cataract surgery, and myopia. Changes in the prevalence of these risk factors could change RRD incidence in the population.

Objective: To determine whether the incidence of RRD in the Netherlands has changed over recent years and whether this change is associated with an altered prevalence of RRD risk factors.

Design, setting, and participants: This cohort study included data from all 14 vitreoretinal clinics in the Netherlands, as well as a large Dutch population-based cohort study. All patients who underwent surgical repair for a primary RRD in the Netherlands from January 1 to December 31, 2009, and January 1 to December 31, 2016, were analyzed, in addition to all participants in the population-based Rotterdam Study who were examined during these years. Analysis began February 2018 and ended November 2019.

Exposures: RRD risk factors, including age, male sex, cataract extraction, and myopia.

Main outcomes and measures: Age-specific RRD incidence rate in the Dutch population, as well as change in RRD incidence and risk factor prevalence between 2009 and 2016.

Results: In 2016, 4447 persons (median [range] age, 61 [3-96] years) underwent surgery for a primary RRD within the Netherlands, resulting in an RRD incidence rate of 26.2 per 100 000 person-years (95% CI, 25.4-27.0). The overall RRD incidence rate had increased by 44% compared with similar data from 2009. The increase was observed in both phakic (1994 in 2009 to 2778 in 2016 [increase, 39%]) and pseudophakic eyes (1004 in 2009 to 1666 in 2016 [increase, 66%]), suggesting that cataract extraction could not solely account for the overall rise. Over the same period, the prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe myopia among persons aged 55 to 75 years had increased by 15.6% (881 of 4561 [19.3%] vs 826 of 3698 [22.3%]), 20.3% (440 of 4561 [9.6%] vs 429 of 3698 [11.6%]), and 26.9% (104 of 4561 [2.3%] vs 107 of 3698 [2.9%]), respectively, within the population-based Rotterdam Study.

Conclusions and relevance: In this study, an increase was observed in primary RRD incidence in the Netherlands over a 7-year period, which could not be explained by a different age distribution or cataract surgical rate. A simultaneous myopic shift in the Dutch population may be associated, warranting further population-based studies on RRD incidence and myopia prevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Age-Specific Incidence Rate of Primary Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Expected and Observed Number of Patients With a Primary Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment (RRD)
The expected numbers in 2016 are based on the age-specific incidence rate in 2009 and the population in 2016.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Age-Specific Number of Patients With a Primary Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment (RRD) Broken Down for Lens Status
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Age-Specific Proportion of Participants With Myopia Categories in the Rotterdam Study in 2009 and 2016
D indicates diopter; SphE, spherical equivalent.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

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