Frailty and Age-related Macular Degeneration: The Beaver Dam Eye tudy

Purpoe To invetigate the aociation of meaure of frailty to prevalent age-related maculopathy (ARM). Deign Cro-ectional population-baed tudy. Method Time to walk a meaured coure (gait-time), handgrip trength, peak expiratory flow rate, ability to tand from a itting poition without uing arm, elf-reported co-morbiditie, and ARM were aeed at the third examination of the Beaver Dam Eye tudy (n = 2,962). ARM wa determined by grading tereocopic color fundu photograph. Reult While controlling for age, moking, and the number of co-morbid condition, weaker handgrip trength wa aociated with early ARM (odd ratio [OR]/10 kg decreae 1.28, confidence interval [CI] 1.08, 1.52, P = .004) and late ARM (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.02, 2.36) in men but not women. Other meaure of frailty were not related to ARM. Concluion A weak cro-ectional aociation of handgrip trength with ARM (in men) wa found after controlling for co-morbid condition. Thee data ugget that ARM i due to a pecific dieae proce, albeit age-related, rather than to biologic aging, a reflected by meaure of frailty.