ABSTRACT
Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of permanent visual damage acquired by the aged people in the world. The rate of AMD has exhibited significant fluctuations in various geographical and socio-demographic locations with urban and rural areas. The less access of ophthalmic care, varying lifestyle patterns, and environmental exposure has been hypothesized to play a role in the incidence and risk profile of AMD among these groups of people.
Aim: The goal of the study was to assess the level of age-related macular degeneration and risk factors of the latter in the population of urban and rural areas and compare the prevalence of the disease in the two demographic populations.
Methods: The study is the cross-sectional, observational study to be carried out in PHQ Teaching Hospital Gilgit in June 2024 to October may 2025. A stratified random sampling was done to have equal representations of both the urban and rural areas and a total of 90 participants 50 years and older were enrolled in the study. All the study participants were subjected to thorough ocular assessment that involved fundoscopic check-up, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual acuity. A lot of interviews of a detailed nature were made to gather data on sociodemographic status, medical history, smoking status, dietary pattern and sunlight exposure. Data were analyzed both with psych4stro 25 to test the chi-square and logistic regression tests to find the significant associations.
Results: The general prevalence of AMD within the population of the patient group comprised 31.1 percent. Participants who live in urban areas had a slightly higher prevalence (35.6 percent) as compared to the prevalence in rural (26.7 percent). Among the specimen factors, advanced age (p=0.003), smoking (p=0.012), and hypertension (p=0.019) were ranked highly as main risk factors among the study respondents. The rural group had more protective elements like frequent consumption of such leafy green vegetables and decreased exposure to the direct sunlight. The urban dwellers were identified to be prone to sedentary lifestyle and tendency to screen exposure having moderate correlations with early manifestations of AMD.
Conclusion: The study concluded that age-related macular degeneration is moderately high, with urban population having a higher burden as compared to urbans. Some examples of key modifiable risk factors that were more common in the urban participants include: smoking, high blood pressure, bad eating habits and lack of physical exercise. These observations support the notion of specific approaches to public health and awareness that should involve changing modifiable risk factors, especially in the urban setting.
Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration, AMD, prevalence, urban vs. rural, risk factors, visual impairment, ophthalmology, lifestyle, Gilgit