Association of ocular and systemic conditions with incident dementia in a UK biobank

Shang X, Zhu Z, Huang Y, et al. Association between ocular and systemic conditions and incident dementia in the UK BiobankBritish Journal of Ophthalmology first published online: 13 September 2021. doi: 10.1136 / bjophthalmol-2021-319508

Commentary

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of independent interactions between ophthalmology, general health and incident dementia.

Twelve hundred and sixty-four adults aged 55-73 years from the UK Biobank cohort were included in this analysis.

Participants were assessed at baseline between 2006 and 2010 and followed until early 2021.

As a result, 2,304 incidences of dementia were recorded in 1,263,513 person-years of follow-up.

The multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CI) for dementia associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, diabetes-related eye disease (DRED), and glaucoma at baseline were 1.26 (1.05-1.52), 1.11 (1.00-1.24 

In addition, baseline diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and depression were all associated with an increased risk of dementia. among the combinations of AMD and systemic conditions, AMD - diabetes was associated with the highest risk of developing dementia.

Those with cataracts and systemic conditions were 1.19 to 2.29 times more likely to develop dementia compared to those without cataracts, and the corresponding numbers for DRED and systemic conditions were 1.50 to 3.24.