title: A longitudinal analysis of risk factors associated with central retinal vein occlusion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify risk factors associated with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) among a diverse group of patients throughout the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  All beneficiaries aged ≥ 55 years who were continuously enrolled in a managed care network for at least 2 years and who had ≥ 2 visits to an eye care provider from 2001 to 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Insurance billing codes were used to identify individuals with a newly diagnosed CRVO. Multivariable Cox regression was performed to determine the factors associated with CRVO development.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of being diagnosed with CRVO.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 494 165 enrollees who met the study inclusion criteria, 1302 (0.26%) were diagnosed with CRVO over 5.4 (± 1.8) years. After adjustment for known confounders, blacks had a 58% increased risk of CRVO compared with whites (HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.25-1.99), and women had a 25% decreased risk of CRVO compared with men (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.66-0.85). A diagnosis of stroke increased the hazard of CRVO by 44% (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.23-1.68), and hypercoagulable state was associated with a 145% increased CRVO risk (HR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.40-4.28). Individuals with end-organ damage from hypertension (HTN) or diabetes mellitus (DM) had a 92% (HR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.52-2.42) and 53% (HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.28-1.84) increased risk of CRVO, respectively, relative to those without these conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirms that HTN and vascular diseases are important risk factors for CRVO. We also identify black race as being associated with CRVO, which was not well appreciated previously. Furthermore, we show that compared with patients without DM, individuals with end-organ damage from DM have a heightened risk of CRVO, whereas those with uncomplicated DM are not at increased risk of CRVO. This finding may provide a potential explanation for the conflicting reports in the literature on the association between CRVO and DM. Information from analyses such as this can be used to create a risk calculator to identify possible individuals at greatest risk for CRVO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Maxwell S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Stem
authors.forename: Nidhi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Talwar
authors.forename: Grant M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Comer
authors.forename: Joshua D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000208:ethnology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019851:Thrombophilia / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology