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. 2023 Nov 22;107(12):1873-1879.
doi: 10.1136/bjo-2021-320469.

Prevalence and risk factors for age-related macular degeneration in a population-based cohort study of older adults in Northern Ireland using multimodal imaging: NICOLA Study

Ruth E Hogg  1 , David M Wright  2 , Nicola B Quinn  2 , Katherine Alyson Muldrew  2 , Barbra Hamill  2 , Laura Smyth  2 , Amy Jayne McKnight  2 , Jayne Woodside  2 , Mark A Tully  3 , Sharon Cruise  2 , Bernadette McGuinness  4 , Ian S Young  5 , Frank Kee  2 , Tunde Peto  2 , Usha Chakravarthy  2
Affiliations

Prevalence and risk factors for age-related macular degeneration in a population-based cohort study of older adults in Northern Ireland using multimodal imaging: NICOLA Study

Ruth E Hogg et al. Br J Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Purpose: To report prevalence and risk factor associations for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and AMD features from multimodal retinal grading in a multidisciplinary longitudinal population-based study of aging in Northern Ireland.

Study design: Population-based longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: Retinal imaging at the Norther Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Aging Study health assessment included stereo Colour Fundus Photography (CFP) (Canon CX-1, Tokyo, Japan) and Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) ((Heidelberg Retinal Angopgraph (HRA)+OCT; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). Medical history and demographic information was obtained during a home interview. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the prevalence of AMD and individual AMD features. Multiple imputation followed by multiple regression modelling was used to explore risk factor associations including relationships with AMD genetic risk score.

Results: Retinal images from 3386 participants were available for analysis. Mean age of the sample was 63.4 (SD 9.01, range: 36-99). Population weighted prevalence of AMD using colour grading in those over 55 years was: no drusen: 6 0.4%; drusen <63 μm: 15.9%; drusen 63-125 µm: 13.7%; drusen >125 µm or pigmentary changes: 8.3%; late AMD: 1.6%. Prevalence of AMD features in those over 55 years was: OCT drusen 27.5%, complete outer retinal pigment epithelium and outer retinal atrophy (cRORA) on OCT was 4.3%, reticular drusen 3.2% and subretinal drusenoid deposits 25.7%. The genetic risk score was significantly associated with drusen and cRORA but less so for SDD alone and non-significant for hyperpigmentation or vitelliform lesions.

Conclusions: Multimodal imaging-based classification has provided evidence of some divergence of genetic risk associations between classical drusen and SDD. Our findings support an urgent review of current AMD severity classification systems.

Keywords: epidemiology; genetics; imaging; macula; retina.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: Ruth Hogg: Optos PLC and Novartis; UC: Bayer. These all relate to non-restrictive grants awarded to QUB to support the retinal grading of this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart showing participant pathway in wave 1 of the NICOLA Study. NICOLA, Northern Ireland Cohort for the Longitudinal Study of Aging.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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