Survey On The Awareness Of Age-related Macular Degeneration And Analysis Of Its Influential Factors

Purpose:To assess the awareness of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its risk factors among Beijing residents and patients with AMD, and to determine the influential factors on the awareness of AMD, through which theoretical and practical bases could be provided for enhancing public awareness in AMD prevention and control. Contents:The research content was divided into two parts based on different respondent groups:1.Investigation on knowledge of AMD and its risk factors (especially smoking) was carried out among Beijing residents, and comparison was made between AMD awareness and that of cataract and glaucoma. Related factors were revealed by statistical analysis.2. Survey on the awareness of AMD and its risk factors (especially smoking) was also performed in patients with AMD during their visits to general eye clinic. Demographic characteristics and clinical features were involved in relevant factor analysis.Methods:A cross-sectional computer assisted telephone investigation (CATI) was conducted to measure the awareness of AMD among Beijing residents. All the contacts of potential respondents were randomly generated by computer. Participants only included those above 18 years of age and willing to be involved in the study. As to the awareness among patients with AMD, a questionnaire was administrated to those diagnosed with AMD when they attended general eye clinic of Peking Union Medical College Hospital from October 2014 to April 2015. The questionnaires for the study were modified from the AMD Alliance International global report. The contents of questionnaires included demographic characteristics, experience of health-related work, past ocular history and etc. clinical features of patients with AMD were also collected. Pearson Chi-Square test and binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the factors that affected the knowledge of AMD. Results:The awareness of AMD among Beijing residents was 6.8%, far below that of cataract and glaucoma. Among the patients with AMD, Even though 60.3% of them were familiar of their condition, there were still 12.1% of them reported themselves as "not at all familiar" with AMD. And only 39.4% of them could describe AMD symptoms and involved sites correctly. In the public investigation, participants who were above 30 years of age(OR 6.17, CI 1.44-26.57), with experience of health-related work(OR 8.11, CI 3.25-20.27)and had friends or relatives who suffered from AMD(OR 32.18, CI 11.29-91.68) had better AMD awareness. In the patient survey, gender(p=0.041), educational level(p< 0.001), residence(p=0.023), visual acuity of the affected eye(p=0.033) and duration of AMD (p=0.037)were found associated with the awareness. Among the residents familiar with AMD and the patients with AMD, the awareness of smoking as a risk factor of AMD was 34.6% and 61.6% respectively. Both were lower than the awareness of age, sunlight exposure and other risk factors in each corresponding investigation. Only 23.1% of the residents were aware that smoking could lead to blindness, while the awareness in the patients with AMD didn’t reach 50%.Conclusions:Either the community of Beijing or the patients with AMD had limited knowledge of AMD. Educational programs about AMD need to be designed to raise public awareness.