Relationship between Retinal Vascular Occlusions and Cognitive Dementia in a Large Cross-Sectional Cohort

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the association between cognitive dementia and retinal vascular occlusions.

Design: A retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Methods: Single-institution study population: we reviewed the electronic medical records of 37,208 individuals older than 65 years of age who were evaluated by an ophthalmologist or an optometrist and who also had a medical visit to our institution over a 6-year period. Individuals with and without retinal vascular occlusions were identified by International Classification of Diseases, version 10 (ICD-10) diagnostic codes.

Main outcome: we analyzed the association between dementia and retinal vascular occlusions after adjusting for covariates which included age, sex, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension using multiple logistic regression analyses.

Results: Compared to subjects without retinal vascular occlusions, those with retinal vascular occlusions had a higher prevalence of dementia (6.7% vs. 9.3%, respectively; P < .001). After adjusting for either age or stroke, there were no significant associations between retinal vascular occlusions and dementia.

Conclusions: Individuals with retinal vascular occlusions have a higher prevalence of dementia. However, this association is secondary to shared underlying risk factors in this population, such as older age and stroke.