Sunlight and the 5-year incidence of early age-related maculopathy: the beaver dam eye study.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relation of sunlight exposure and indicators of sun sensitivity with the 5-year incidence of early age-related maculopathy (ARM).


METHODS
Longitudinal, population-based study. Participants (aged 43-86 years at baseline) in the Beaver Dam Eye Study were reexamined from 1993 to 1995, 5 years after the baseline examination. Questionnaire data about sunlight exposure and sun sensitivity were obtained at baseline. Additional information about earlier life patterns of exposure was ascertained at follow-up. Stereoscopic color fundus photographs were graded to determine the presence of ARM at the 5-year follow-up in eyes free from signs of early ARM at the baseline examination.


RESULTS
Leisure time spent outdoors while persons were teenagers (aged 13-19 years) and in their 30s (aged 30-39 years) was significantly associated with the risk of early ARM (odds ratio, 2.09; 95% confidence interval, 1.19-3.65). There was a slight, but nonsignificant, protective effect associated with use of hats and sunglasses while persons were teenagers and in their 30s (odds ratio, 0.72; 95% confidence interval, 0.50-1.03). People with red or blond hair were slightly more likely to develop early ARM than people with darker hair (odds ratio, 1.33; 95% confidence interval, 0.97-1.83). There were no associations between estimated ambient UV-B exposure or markers of sun sensitivity and the incidence of early ARM.


CONCLUSIONS
Exposure to sunlight may be associated with the development of early ARM.
Cruickshanks
K J
KJ
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin, 610 N Walnut St, Room 460, WARF Building, Madison, WI 53705-2397, USA. cruickshanks@epi.ophth.wisc.edu
Klein
R
R
Klein
B E
BE
Nondahl
D M
DM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012160:Retina / Q000528:radiation effects*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013472:Sunlight / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014922:Wisconsin / Q000453:epidemiology