The African American Eye Disease Study: Design and Methods

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To describe the study design, operational and recruitment strategies, procedures, and baseline characteristics of the African American Eye Disease Study (AFEDS), a population-based assement of the prevalence of visual impairment, ocular disease, visual function, and health-related quality of life in African Americans.

Methods: This population-based, cross-sectional study included over 6000 African Americans 40 years and older residing in and around Inglewood, California. A detailed interview and eye examination was performed on each eligible participant. The interview included an assessment of demographic, behavioral, and ocular risk factors and health-related and vision-related quality of life. The eye examination included measurements of visual acuity, intraocular pressure, visual fields; fundus and optic disc photography; a detailed anterior and posterior segment examination; and measurements of blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin levels, and blood glucose levels.

Results: The AFEDS cohort includes more than 6000 participants that have completed a home questionnaire and a comprehensive eye examination. The majority of participants were female (63%), the average (± standard deviation) overall age was 60.9 (±11.3). Participants are mostly working (40%) or retired (41%), non-smoking (57%), partial drinking (54%), and with at least some college education (38%). A trust-development recruitment strategy was refined in order to overcome challenges in study participation.

Conclusion: The AFEDS is the largest epidemiologic eye study among African Americans to date. The AFEDS cohort will provide information about the prevalence and risk factors of ocular disease in the largest ophthalmologic study population of African Americans in the United States.

KEYWORDS:

• Population-based study
• epidemiology
• African Americans
• ocular disease
• recruitment

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the African American Eye Disease Study External Advisory Committee for their advice and contributions: M. Roy Wilson, MD, MS (Chair); Julia A. Haller, MD; Helen Hazuda, PhD; Eve J. Higginbotham, SM, MD; Joanne Katz, ScD; Maryann Redford, DDS, MPH; and Xinzhi Zhang, MD, PhD, FACE, FRSM.

The African American Eye Disease Study Group, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA: Rohit Varma, MD, MPH; Roberta McKean-Cowdin, PhD; Mina Torres, MS; Alicia Fairbrother-Crisp, MPH; Farzana Choudhury MBBS, MS, PhD; Xuejuan Jiang, PhD; Bruce Burkemper, PhD, MS; Tengiz Adamashvili; Carlos Lastra, MD; Elizabeth Corona; YuPing Wang, COT; Jacqueline Douglass, Jaimie Barrera; Judith Linton.

Department of Ophthalmology, Battelle Survey Research Center, St. Louis, MO: Lisa John, PhD; Nicole Weinstein, MSW; Natasha Van Leeuwen; James Clark; Sandra Ramirez.

Singapore National Eye Centre, Ocular Reading Center: Tien Wong, MD, PhD; Soundaram Jaganathan; Haslina Hamzah.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest exists for any author.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be access on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

National Institutes of Health Grant U10 EY023575 and an unrestricted grant from the Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, New York. The sponsor or funding organization had no role in the design or conduct of this research.