75
Views
5
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Article

The Relationship Between Birthweight and Early Age-Related Maculopathy: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

, , , , , & show all
Pages 56-61 | Received 20 May 2007, Accepted 06 Aug 2007, Published online: 08 Jul 2009
 

Abstract

Purpose: Birthweight is a marker of fetal growth, and has been linked to future risk of chronic diseases in adults. We examined the association between birthweight and age-related maculopathy (ARM). Methods: We studied 9730 adults from the population-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, of whom 4744 reported their exact birthweight and an additional 4986 provided categorical birthweight data (low, medium or high). We graded retinal photographs for presence of ARM using a modification of the Wisconsin ARM Grading System. Results: Early ARM was present in 479 (4.9%) adults. Among persons with exact birthweight data, there was no association between birthweight and early ARM (OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.9–1.3, for each kg increase in birthweight). However, in Whites, greater birthweight was associated with an increased risk of early ARM (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0–1.4, for each kilogram increase in birthweight), after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, blood pressure and education level. In analyses including additional participants who provided categorical birthweight data, the pattern of associations were similar but not statistically significant. We did not have sufficient numbers to examine associations for late ARM (n = 12) or in African-Americans separately. Conclusions: We found no association between birthweight and risk of early ARM in the whole population. Among the white participants, higher birthweight was associated with a slight increased risk of early ARM. These findings, if confirmed in other studies, suggest that fetal growth may be important in ARM development in white persons.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.