• Online Features  This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (9)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Neurology  • Macular Degeneration  • Cardiovascular System  • Articles for Residents  • Cardiovascular Disease/ Myocardial Infarction  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

The Cardiovascular Health Study

Michelle L. Baker, MD; Jie Jin Wang, MMed, PhD; Sophie Rogers, MEpi; Ronald Klein, MD, MPH; Lewis H. Kuller, MD, DrPH; Emily K. Larsen, MS; Tien Yin Wong, MD, PhD

Arch Ophthalmol. 2009;127(5):667-673.

Objective  To describe the association of cognitive function and dementia with early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in older individuals.

Methods  This population-based study included 2088 persons aged 69 to 97 years who participated in the Cardiovascular Health Study. The AMD was assessed from retinal photographs based on a modified Wisconsin AMD grading system. Cognitive function was assessed using the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination. Participants were also evaluated for dementia using detailed neuropsychological testing.

Results  After controlling for age, sex, race, and study center, persons with low DSST scores (lowest quartile of scores, 30) were more likely to have early AMD (odds ratio, 1.38; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.85) than were persons with higher DSST scores. In analyses further controlling for education, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol level, diabetes mellitus, smoking status, and apolipoprotein E genotype, this association was stronger (odds ratio, 2.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-3.10). There was no association of low Modified Mini-Mental State Examination scores, dementia, or Alzheimer disease with early AMD.

Conclusions  In this older population, cognitive impairment may share common age-related pathogenesis and risk factors with early AMD.

Author Affiliations: Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Victoria (Drs Baker, Wang, and Wong and Ms Rogers); Centre for Vision Research, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Dr Wang); Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison (Dr Klein); Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Dr Kuller); Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle (Ms Larsen); and Singapore Eye Research Institute, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (Dr Wong).

CiteULike    Connotea    Delicious    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Republished review: Cataract and cognitive impairment: a review of the literature
Jefferis et al.
Postgrad. Med. J. 2011;87:636-642.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Psychological and Cognitive Determinants of Vision Function in Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Rovner et al.
Arch Ophthalmol 2011;129:885-890.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cataract and cognitive impairment: a review of the literature
Jefferis et al.
Br J Ophthalmol 2011;95:17-23.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT