Objective: To assess the prevalence and potential risk factors for late age
-related macular degeneration (AMD) in three racially similar populations f
rom North America, Europe, and Australia,
Design: Combined analysis of population-based eye disease prevalence data.
Participants: There were 14,752 participants with gradable photographs from
the Beaver Dam Eye Study (n = 4756), Rotterdam Study (n = 6411), and Blue
Mountains Eye Study (n = 3585).
Main Outcome Measures: AMD diagnosis was made from masked grading of stereo
macular photographs. Final classification of AMD cases was agreed by conse
nsus between study investigators.
Results: AMD prevalence was strongly age related. Overall, AMD was present
in 0.2% of the combined population aged 55 to 64 years, rising to 13% of th
e population older than 85 years. Prevalence of neovascular AMD (NV) increa
sed from 0.17% among subjects aged 55 to 64 years to 5.8% for those older t
han 85 years, Prevalence of pure geographic atrophy (GA) increased from 0.0
4% to 4.2% for these age groups. There were no significant gender differenc
es in the prevalence of NV or GA. Subjects in the Rotterdam population had
a significantly lower age-adjusted and smoking-adjusted risk of NV than sub
jects in the Beaver Dam and Blue Mountains populations. Apart from age, tob
acco smoking was the only risk factor consistently associated with any form
of AMD in all sites separately and in pooled analyses over the three sites
.
Conclusions: These combined data from racially similar communities across t
hree continents provide strong and consistent evidence that tobacco smoking
is the principal known preventable exposure associated with any form of AM
D. (C) 2001 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.