Open AccessIncreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease among patients with age-related macular degeneration: A nationwide population-based study
Author(s) -
Li-Yen Wen,
Lei Wan,
JungNien Lai,
Chih Sheng Chen,
Jamie Jiin-Yi Chen,
Ming-Yen Wu,
Kai-Chieh Hu,
Lu-Ting Chiu,
Peng-Tai Tien
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0250440
Subject(s) - medicine , macular degeneration , cohort , population , cohort study , ophthalmology , environmental health
Objective This study aimed to investigate the risk of Alzheimer’s disease among patients with age-related macular degeneration and its association with confounding comorbidities. Method This was a population-based, retrospective cohort study. By accessing data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, we identified 10,578 patients aged 50–100 years who were newly diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration between 2000 and 2012 and 10,578 non- age-related macular degeneration individuals. The comorbidities assessed were osteoporosis, diabetes, cirrhosis, cerebrovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Results Patients with age-related macular degeneration had a 1.23-fold increased risk of their condition advancing to Alzheimer’s disease (aHR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.04–1.46). The younger patients were diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, the more likely patients got Alzheimer’s disease (50–64 age group: aHR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.04–3.73; 65–79 age group: aHR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.02–1.58; 80–100 age group: aHR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.78–1.45). In addition, there were significantly higher risks of Alzheimer’s disease for patients with cirrhosis (aHR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.09–2.06) in the age-related macular degeneration cohort than in the non-age-related macular degeneration cohort. Conclusion Patients with age-related macular degeneration may exhibit a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease than people without age-related macular degeneration.