The relationship between birthweight and early age-related maculopathy: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study.
OBJECTIVE
Birthweight is a marker of fetal growth, and has been linked to future risk of chronic diseases in adults. We examined the association between birthweight and age-related maculopathy (ARM).


METHODS
We studied 9730 adults from the population-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, of whom 4744 reported their exact birthweight and an additional 4986 provided categorical birthweight data (low, medium or high). We graded retinal photographs for presence of ARM using a modification of the Wisconsin ARM Grading System.


RESULTS
Early ARM was present in 479 (4.9%) adults. Among persons with exact birthweight data, there was no association between birthweight and early ARM (OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.9-1.3, for each kg increase in birthweight). However, in Whites, greater birthweight was associated with an increased risk of early ARM (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.4, for each kilogram increase in birthweight), after adjustment for age, sex, smoking, blood pressure and education level. In analyses including additional participants who provided categorical birthweight data, the pattern of associations were similar but not statistically significant. We did not have sufficient numbers to examine associations for late ARM (n = 12) or in African-Americans separately.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no association between birthweight and risk of early ARM in the whole population. Among the white participants, higher birthweight was associated with a slight increased risk of early ARM. These findings, if confirmed in other studies, suggest that fetal growth may be important in ARM development in white persons.
Liew
Gerald
G
Centre for Vision Research, University of Sydney, Department of Ophthalmology, Westmead Hospital, The Westmead Millennium Institute, Australia.
Wang
Jie Jin
JJ
Klein
Ronald
R
Duncan
Bruce B
BB
Brancati
Frederick
F
Yeh
Hsin-Chieh
HC
Wong
Tien Y
TY
D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001824:Body Constitution; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology