Life Sciences & Biomedicine Ophthalmology Science & Technology
Purpose. To determine whether macular thickness is associated with ethnicity, gender, axial length (AL), and severity of myopia in a cohort of young adults from the Correction of Myopia Evaluation Trial (COMET).
Methods. Eleven years after their baseline visit, 387/469 (83%) subjects returned for their annual visit. In addition to the protocol-specific measures of spherical equivalent refractive error (SER) and AL, high-resolution macular imaging also was performed with optical coherence tomography (RTVue). From these scans, full-thickness values for the central (1 mm), parafoveal (1 to 3 mm), and perifoveal (3 to 5 mm) annular regions were calculated. Gender, ethnicity, AL, and SER were examined for associations with macular thickness using univariate and multivariable linear regression analyses.
Results. In the 377 subjects with usable data (mean age = 21.0 +/- 1.3 years), the mean SER +/- SD was -5.0 +/- 1.9 D and mean AL was 25.4 +/- 0.9 mm. Mean foveal thickness was 252.0 +/- 20.1 mu m in the center, 315.6 +/- 14.0 mu m in the parafovea, and 284.4 +/- 12.9 mu m in the perifovea. In the best-fit multivariable model that adjusted for gender, ethnicity, and AL, females had significantly thinner maculas than males for all three regions (p < 0.0001), with the largest difference in the center (12.8 mu m, 95% confidence interval: 9.2 to 16.4). The effect of ethnicity was strongest in the central fovea, with African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and mixed ethnic groups having thinner maculas than whites (all p values < 0.005). Increased AL was significantly associated with slightly thicker central foveas (p = 0.001) and thinner parafoveal (p = 0.02) and perifoveal (p < 0.0001) regions.
Conclusions. In this ethnically diverse cohort of moderate and high myopes, females and African-Americans were found to have the thinnest central foveas. Whether such thinning in the macula as a young adult is a risk factor for future disease remains to be determined. (Optom Vis Sci 2012;89:620-631)
Factors Associated with Macular Thickness in the COMET Myopic Cohort
Creators
Elise Harb - New England College of Optometry
Leslie Hyman - Stony Brook University
Melissa Fazzari - Stony Brook University
Jane Gwiazda - New England College of Optometry
Wendy Marsh-Tootle - University of Alabama
COMET Study Grp
Mitchell Scheiman - Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO)
Publication Details
Optometry and vision science, v 89(5), pp 620-631
Publisher
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Number of pages
12
Grant note
EY11756; EY11805; EY11754; EY11740; EY11752; EY11755 / NEI/NIH; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Eye Institute (NEI)
U10EY011754 / NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Eye Institute (NEI)
Resource Type
Journal article
Language
English
Academic Unit
Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO)
Web of Science ID
WOS:000303654800022
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84861098852
Other Identifier
991021900610104721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Ophthalmology
Research Home Page
Browse by research and academic units
Learn about the ETD submission process at Drexel
Learn about the Libraries’ research data management services