Premium
Socio‐economic characteristics of patients with generalized retinal dystrophy in D enmark
Author(s) -
Bertelsen Mette,
Linneberg Allan,
Rosenberg Thomas
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/aos.12467
Subject(s) - medicine , confidence interval , odds ratio , danish , retinitis pigmentosa , demography , logistic regression , population , dystrophy , pediatrics , retinal , ophthalmology , environmental health , philosophy , linguistics , pathology , sociology
Purpose To examine socio‐economic characteristics of patients with generalized retinal dystrophy in Denmark. Methods Cross‐sectional population‐based study with analysis of socio‐economic characteristics including income, education, employment status and civil status in 2285 patients from the D anish R etinitis P igmentosa R egistry and 228 500 control subjects matched by age and gender. Demographic and socio‐economic data were retrieved from S tatistics D enmark. Differences between cases and controls were estimated using conditional logistic regression. Results On 1 January 2012, 2285 patients with a D anish civil registration number were registered as having a generalized retinal dystrophy. At the age of 40 years, less patients than controls had a high education (odds ratio ( OR ), 0.51; 95% confidence interval ( CI 95 ), 0.41–0.62), a high income ( OR , 0.21; CI 95, 0.17–0.26) and were married ( OR , 0.39; CI 95 , 0.33–0.45). More patients than controls were pensioners ( OR , 6.04; CI 95 , 5.23–6.97). Conclusions We found that patients with generalized retinal dystrophy differed significantly from a matched control group on several socio‐economic characteristics. The differences were more pronounced in patients with systemic involvement and patients with an early age at disease presentation. The socio‐economic inequalities of this group of blinding diseases emphasize the importance of rehabilitation and need for a substantial and multidisciplinary support from the healthcare, educational and social systems.