Prevalence of age Related Macular Degeneration in A Tertiary Care centre

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading cause of irreversible blindness in elderly population affecting the quality of life and there by general health. AIM: The purpose of the present study was to estimate the prevalence, risk factors and subtypes of AMD in a hospital population attending to ophthalmology outpatient department. Materials and Methods: This observational study was carried out at tertiary eye institute between November 2017 and April 2018. Newly registered patients of both the sex attending the hospital with complaints of diminution of vision for various reasons were selected for detailed ophthalmic examination and evaluation. Results: Among the patients attending to our outpatient department, 120 patients were diagnosed with Age related macular degeneration. As the age of subjects increased prevalence also increased and most of them were in the age group of 61-70. Male to female ratio was 1:2.33. Early AMD was seen in 71.7% (n = 86) and Late AMD (n= 34) was seen in 28.3%. Dry AMD was seen in 75.84% (n=91), Wet AMD was seen in 24.16% (n=29). Conclusion: Study reports prevalence of AMD increases with age. Higher prevalence was noted in females. Early AMD was seen in more cases than Late AMD and Dry AMD was noted more than Wet AMD. So complete ophthalmic evaluation is necessary in order to diagnose and stabilize the progression of AMD especially in the elderly age group of patients who complains of recent onset central visual loss. Research Article Prevalence of age Related Macular Degeneration in A Tertiary Care centre Jayashree MP1, Harika JVL2*, Arathi C3, Brijesh A Patil4 and Niveditha RK5 1Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, RGUHS, Banglore, Karnataka, India 2Junior Resident, Department of Ophthalmology, S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, RGUHS, Banglore, Karnataka, India 3Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, RGUHS, Banglore, Karnataka, India 4Proffesor and HOD, Department of Ophthalmology, S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, RGUHS, Banglore, Karnataka, India 5Junior Resident, Department of Ophthalmology, S.Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, RGUHS, Banglore, Karnataka, India Received: 03 December, 2018 Accepted: 22 May, 2019 Published: 23 May, 2019 *Corresponding author: Dr. Harika JVL, Post Graduate Student, Department of Ophthalmology, RGUHS, Banglore, India, E-mail:


Introduction
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible blindness apart from cataract and glaucoma especially in elderly population. The disease adversely affects quality of life and activities of daily living, causing many affected individuals to lose their independence in their retirement years. It accounts for 8.7% of all blindness worldwide and is the most common cause of blindness in developed countries [1][2][3][4][5], particularly in people older than 60 years.
Age-related macular disorder is a degenerative disorder affecting macula, characterized by presence of drusens and RPE changes. Conventionally it is classifi ed in to two types mainly Dry (non-exudative, non-neovascular) form which is more common and presents as Geographical atrophy (GA) in its advanced stage. Wet (exudative, neovascular) form which is relatively less common but is associated with rapid progression to vision loss. Choroidal neovascualarisation (CNV) and Pigment epithelial detachment (PED) are its main manifestations.
According to a Recent clinical classifi cation it is divided in to Early AMD (drusen size more than 63μm less than 125μm), Intermediate AMD ( drusen size more than 125μm), Late AMD (Neovascualr AMD and geographical atrophy) [6].
Although, there is considerable information on visual impairment in the Western world, to date there are only few studies on the prevalence and risk factors of AMD in Indian subcontinent [7]. It was also included in the action plan of the World Health Organization, to address avoidable blindness in VISION 2020 program [8]. Differences in the prevalence of AMD based on gender, race, or geographic area have been observed.
With increasing longevity & shift in demographic profi le, prevalence of the disease is expected to rise dramatically in India also.
Recent studies from India account the prevalence of AMD among 70 years and above as 2% and 3.7% which was comparable to Western countries [7,9]. Therefore, the investigation of risk

Materials and Methods
This current observational study was carried out at tertiary

Statistical analysis
The data were analysed using the Microsoft excel version MS 2007 software packages. Descriptive statistics was used to determine mean and percentages. Signifi cance was derived by using pearson chi square test. P value <0.05 was considered as signifi cant.

Results
Among the patients attending the out patient department in 6 months duration, 120 subjects were diagnosed with Age related macular degeneration. Prevalence was 0.46%. 36 were males and 84 were females. Male: female ratio was 1: 2.33 ( Figure 1). As the age of subjects increased prevalence also increased and most of them were in the age group of 61-70 (47.5%) (Figure 2). Prevalence rate was 0.46 %. Early AMD was diagnosed in 86 cases (71.7%) and Late AMD was seen in 34 cases (28.3%) (Figure 3). Dry AMD was seen in 91cases (75.84%), Wet AMD was seen in 29 cases (24.16%) (Figure4).
Geographical atrophy was seen in 5 cases.
Out of 120 patients Early AMD was seen in 86 out of which 24 were males and 62 were females. Late AMD was seen in 34 cases, out of which 12 were males and 22 were females. 91 cases has shown Dry AMD changes out of which 27 were males and 64 were females. 29 cases shown Wet AMD out of which 9 were males and 20 were females ( Table 1).

Discussion
Age related macular degeneration is the leading cause of visual disturbance and blindness especially among the elderly population affecting their quality of life. It accounts for 8.7 % of the total blindness globally. As the aging population is rapidly increasing, age related blinding causes will be more important in coming years.
Various previous studies reported the prevalence and riskfactors of AMD. Overall prevalence of AMD was 1.82 % in Andhra Pradesh Eye Disease Study [9], 1.51 % in Beaver Dam Eye Study [7], 1.81 % in Blue Mountain Eye Study [2], 1.38 % in a hospital based study [17] and 2.31% in a study done in Central India [18]. In our study prevalence rate was 0.46%. Differences in this prevalence rates may be due to the differences in the type of study undertaken like community based or hospital based, genetic factors and environment.
As the age of subjects increased prevalence also increased and most of them were in the age group of 61-70. This result is consistent with other studies [2,4,7,9,19]. Increasing age is strongly associated with AMD.

Pooled data from the Beaver Dam Eye Study, Blue
Mountains Eye Study, and the Rotterdam Study revealed no sex differences in AMD risk. However, recent analyses from the Blue Mountains Eye Study suggest that the 5-year incidence of Neovascular AMD among women is double that of men (1.2% vs. 0.6%). Females were having higher risk of AMD than males in our study. However, the difference is not statistically signifi cant (p= 0.486). This was also reported by several other studies. However, there were studies showing prevalence of AMD more in males that is related to smoking habits, sunlight exposure and better longevity among females.
The Aravind Comprehensive Eye Study reported the prevalence of Early AMD and Late AMD were 2.7% and 0.6% respectively [7]. It was 2 % and 1.6% in the INDEYE population [20]. Kulkarni et al had reported the proportion of early and late AMD as 1.34% and 0.37 % respectively [21]. According to Gupta et al it was 47% and 1.4% respectively [22]. The proportion of early and late AMD in south Korean population was 5.1% and 0.34% respectively [23]. In the current study early AMD % was more than late AMD (71.7% and 28.3%) which is similar to forementioned studies.
Hypertension and cigarette smoking were identifi ed as risk factors for AMD constantly apart from age, prior cataract surgery, CVD, obesity and dietary factors. Smoking is an important, independent, modifi able risk factor for AMD. Mechanisms by which smoking may increase the risk of developing AMD include its adverse effect on blood lipids by decreasing levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and increasing platelet aggregability and fi brinogen, increasing oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation, and reducing plasma levels of antioxidants. In the present study 62 cases were     noted as hypertensives (p= 0.560), 23 were smokers (p=0.493) but the p value was not statistically signifi cant. And this may be due to the large number of female cases in the study. 33 were diabetics (p= 0.418), 11 were alcoholics. To date the evidence suggests that alcohol doesnot affect the AMD. Many studies have investigated the relationship between diabetes and/or hyperglycemia and AMD, and most have found no signifi cant relationships and this may be due to the coexisting diabetic retinopathy. Limitations of the study includes small sample size and we could not associate the risk factors like smoking, alcohol, diabetes and hypertension as the study was observational and controls were not included in the study and odds ratio was not calculated.

Conclusion
Age related macular degeneration is a common and potential cause of blindness in elderly population that often goes unnoticed without a clear ophthalmological examination. So early detection of cases is important to reduce the progression. Study reports prevalence of AMD increases with age. Higher prevalence was noted in females. Early AMD was common than Late AMD.