Five-year incidence of age-related maculopathy in relation to iris, skin or hair colour, and skin sun sensitivity: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

This study aimed to assess longitudinal associations between iris,hair and skin colour, plus skin sensitivity to sun and the 5-year incidence of age-related maculopathy (ARM). Of 3654 baseline Blue Mountains Eye Study participants (aged 49+ years), 2335 survivors (75.1%) were re-examined after 5 years. Retinal photographs were graded using the Wisconsin ARM Grading System and incident ARM lesions confirmed using side-by-side grading.Iris/skin/hair colour was assessed and skin sensitivity questions were asked at baseline. After adjusting for age, sex and smoking, no significant associations were found between iris or hair colour and incident late or early ARM. Compared to persons with fair skin, those with very fair skin had an increased risk of developing geographical atrophy (odds ratio [OR] 3.5,95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-10.4).However, persons with sun-related skin damage were less likely than those without to develop indistinct soft drusen (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4-0.9). Longitudinal data provide no support for the previously reported cross-sectional association between iris colour and ARM.