LIFETIME AMBIENT ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION EXPOSURE AND INCIDENCE OF AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

To investigate the link between lifelong exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The Alienor study is a prospective population-based cohort involving 963 residents of Bordeaux, France, older than 73 years. A subset of 614 participants for advanced AMD and 422 participants for early AMD were included in the analysis. The participants' residential history combined with UVR estimates from the EuroSun satellite were used to estimate the amount of ambient UVR they have been exposed to over their lifetime. Age-related macular degeneration was classified from retinal fundus photographs and spectral domain optical coherence tomography at 2 to 3 years intervals over the 2006 to 2017 period. Associations between cumulative exposure to ultraviolet A, ultraviolet B, and total (total UV) and the incidence of early and advanced AMD were estimated using multivariate Cox models.

Intermediate quartiles of total UV, ultraviolet A, and ultraviolet B exposures were associated with a higher risk for incident early AMD (Hazard Ratio [HR] =2.01 [95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.27-3.13], HR = 2.20 [95% CI = 1.38-3.50], HR = 1.79 [95% CI = 1.13-2.80], respectively) as compared with the lower quartile. However, this risk did not further increase in the highest quartiles of exposure. None of the three types of UVR exposure was significantly associated with incident advanced AMD.

Despite an increased risk with intermediate compared with low UVR exposure, our study cannot confirm a dose-response relationship of UVR exposure with early AMD onset.