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. 2025 Jul 22;15(1):26595.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-12297-9.

Risk of age-related macular degeneration according to the chronic kidney disease and proteinuria in Korea: a 10-year nationwide cohort study

Junhee Park  1 , Kyungdo Han #  2 , Bongseong Kim  3 , Kyungho Lee  4 , Hye Ryoun Jang  4 , Je Moon Yoon  5 , Dong Hui Lim  5   6 , Dong Wook Shin #  7   8
Affiliations

Risk of age-related macular degeneration according to the chronic kidney disease and proteinuria in Korea: a 10-year nationwide cohort study

Junhee Park et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The association between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is unclear. Our study aimed to evaluate this relationship considering the potential impact of proteinuria. This retrospective cohort study used a large representative population sample from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database (2009-2019) of individuals who participated in a national health screening program in 2009. CKD was determined by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Proteinuria was assessed using dipstick urinalysis. AMD was identified according to International Classification Disease, Tenth Revision, codes in claims data. The Cox regression hazards model was used to estimate the association between CKD and risk of AMD. Among 4,005,946 participants, 400,189 (10.0%) had CKD. There was no significant association between CKD and AMD, but a positive relationship was identified between proteinuria and AMD. In stratification analysis with age and sex, the risk of AMD was more evident in younger (< 65 years) than older individuals (P-interaction < 0.001) and in men than women (P-interaction < 0.001). A positive association between proteinuria and AMD risk was observed and was prominent in younger males.

Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; Chronic kidney disease; Glomerular filtration rate; Proteinuria.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics approval: The Institutional Review Board of Soongsil University approved this study (SSU-202007-HR-236-01), this study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was waived in this study by the Institutional Review Board of Soongsil University, Seoul, South Korea. Informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board of Soongsil University because the data in the NHIS-NSC were anonymized and de-identified.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of the study population. AMD age-related macular degeneration, ESRD end-stage renal disease, CKD chronic kidney disease.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Dose-dependent association between proteinuria and risk of age-related macular degeneration.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Cumulative incidence of age-related macular degeneration by degree of proteinuria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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