Chia-Min Wu1,2, Fu-Hsiung Su3,4,5, Wen-Chang Wang6, Chang-Ping Lin7, Abram Bunya Kamiza2, Shih-Ni Chang8,9, Chih-Ching Yeh2,10. 1. Department of Ophthalmology, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. 2. School of Public Health, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. 3. Department of Family Medicine, Cardinal Tien Hospital, Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan. 4. School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan. 5. School of Medicine, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia. 6. PhD Program for Translational Medicine, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan. 7. Department of Ophthalmology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. 8. Big Data Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan. 9. Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan. 10. Department of Public Health, College of Public Health, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To study the association between chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: Data used in this retrospective, frequency-matched cohort study were acquired from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000, which includes medical claims and registration files for 1 000 000 enrolees in the Taiwan National Health Insurance programme. The HBV cohort contained 17 796 patients who received a diagnosis of chronic HBV infection between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012. The non-HBV cohort contained 71 184 participants who were frequency-matched by age, sex and year of index date for comparison. Participants were followed until the end of 2013, and those who developed AMD during the study period were identified. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to compare the risk of AMD between cohorts. RESULTS: The incidence of any type of AMD in all participants was 3.88 per 1000 person-years (PY; 2.27 per 1000 PY in the HBV cohort; 1.61 per 1000 PY in the non-HBV cohort). Compared with the non-HBV cohort, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for any type of AMD in the HBV cohort was 1.41 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-1.63; p < 0.001]. This significant positive association was stronger among patients who exhibited disease progression from nonexudative to exudative AMD (adjusted HR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.01-2.99). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that patients with chronic HBV infection in Taiwan have a significantly elevated risk of developing any type of AMD and that HBV infection may accelerate the progression of AMD.
PURPOSE: To study the association between chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: Data used in this retrospective, frequency-matched cohort study were acquired from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000, which includes medical claims and registration files for 1 000 000 enrolees in the Taiwan National Health Insurance programme. The HBV cohort contained 17 796 patients who received a diagnosis of chronic HBV infection between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2012. The non-HBV cohort contained 71 184 participants who were frequency-matched by age, sex and year of index date for comparison. Participants were followed until the end of 2013, and those who developed AMD during the study period were identified. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to compare the risk of AMD between cohorts. RESULTS: The incidence of any type of AMD in all participants was 3.88 per 1000 person-years (PY; 2.27 per 1000 PY in the HBV cohort; 1.61 per 1000 PY in the non-HBV cohort). Compared with the non-HBV cohort, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for any type of AMD in the HBV cohort was 1.41 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23-1.63; p < 0.001]. This significant positive association was stronger among patients who exhibited disease progression from nonexudative to exudative AMD (adjusted HR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.01-2.99). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that patients with chronic HBV infection in Taiwan have a significantly elevated risk of developing any type of AMD and that HBV infection may accelerate the progression of AMD.