Body height and ocular diseases. The Beijing Eye Study.
BACKGROUND
To determine whether body height is associated with ocular diseases.


METHODS
The population-based Beijing Eye Study 2006 included 3,251 (73.2%) subjects out of 4,439 subjects invited to be examined. Ocular and general parameters were examined for associations with body height.


RESULTS
Out of the 3,251 subjects included in the study, measurements of body height were available for 3,214 subjects (98.9%). In univariate analysis, short body height was significantly associated with a higher frequency of angle-closure glaucoma (P = 0.04), trachoma (P < 0.001), and pterygium (P = 0.02), a higher degree of cortical cataract (P < 0.001), and a higher frequency of arterial hypertension (P < 0.001). A multivariate analysis, including all confounding parameters which were significantly associated with body height in univariate analysis (i.e., age, gender, rural versus urban region, level of education) revealed that body height by itself was no longer significantly associated with the presence of any of the diseases tested.


CONCLUSIONS
Angle-closure glaucoma, trachoma, pterygium, cortical cataract and arterial hypertension are present more often in adult Chinese with a short body stature. These associations are due to confounding factors such as age, level of education, and anterior chamber depth, which by themselves are associated with the ocular diseases mentioned.
Xie
Xi Wei
XW
Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical Science University, 17 Hougou Street, Chong Wen Men, 100005 Beijing, China.
Xu
Liang
L
Wang
Ya Xing
YX
Jonas
Jost B
JB
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data