A study of the prevalence of age related macular degeneration and its risk factors

Abstract

Age related macular degeneration (ARMD) is one of the leading causes of visual impairment in individuals more than 50 years of age. Aim of this study was to know the prevalence and various socio demographic risk factors associated with ARMD. We studied 300 patients attending Ophthalmology OPD of a Tertiary Care Hospital in Western Maharashtra. Risk factors such as age, sex, smoking, Body Mass Index (BMI), and family history of ARMD were studied. Diagnosis of ARMD was confirmed on Fundus Fluorescein Angiography (FFA) and Optical Coherence Tomography(OCT). Out of 300 patients studied, 24 (8.0%) had ARMD. Increasing age was found to be a significant risk factor for ARMD. In our study, we found that there were 83.3% females as compared to 16.7% males. There was no statistically significant association found between Body Mass Index and ARMD in our study. Among patients with ARMD, 4 (16.7%) were smokers and 20 (83.3%) were non-smokers and this was not found to be statistically significant. Family history was found to be a significant risk factor for development of ARMD. Increasing age, female sex and family history of ARMD were significant risk factors associated with development of ARMD.