IS THE INCIDENCE OF REGISTRABLE AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION INCREASING

Aims/Background-Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a growing p ublic health problem in Britain; currently its aetiology is unclear. T he aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the age specific incidence of blinding ARMD has increased in Britain in the past 50 yea rs, using data on cause of visual loss in people registered as blind, published every 10 years since 1950. Methods - Data were abstracted fr om published sources for the years 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980. Data fo r the standard year, 1990, were provided in a database from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. The numbers of new registrations attributed to ARMD per head of population were compared with registrat ions for cataract, glaucoma, and optic atrophy. Indirect standardisati on was used to control for changes in the age structure of the populat ion over time. Results - After controlling for changes in the age stru cture of the population, registration rates for all causes, cataract, glaucoma, and optic atrophy have decreased while registrations attribu ted to ARMD have increased in the order of 30-40%. Conclusions - These findings are compatible with the hypothesis that the incidence of ARM D is increasing in Britain. It is difficult to exclude potential sourc es of bias in these data, however, particularly with respect to classi fication and coding of cause; more reliable population based data on A RMD in Britain are needed.