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Factors Associated with Senile Macular Degeneration in Elders within Communities

Article information

Res Community Public Health Nurs. 2013;24(1):1-10
Publication date (electronic) : 2013 March 31
doi : https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2013.24.1.1
Chul-Gyu Kim1, Yungeong Park2, Seungmi Park3
1Department of Nursing, Cheongju University, Cheongju, Korea.
2Korean Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness, Seoul, Korea.
3Department of Nursing · Research Institute for Basic Sciences, Hoseo University, Asan, Korea.
Corresponding author: Park, Seungmi. Department of Nursing, Hoseo University, 165 Sechul-ri, Baebang-eup, Asan 336-795, Korea. Tel: +82-41-540-9533, Fax: +82-41-540-9558, seungmipark@hoseo.edu
Received 2012 July 10; Accepted 2013 February 28.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was conducted to examine the degree of senile macular degeneration in elders aged 65 or older and identify factors associated with senile macular degeneration in elders within communities.

Methods

Participants in this cross-sectional descriptive study were 388 elders without cataract, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Data were collected through face to face interviews using a questionnaire in an urban area from June 2010 to December 2011. To detect senile macular degeneration, the participants' self-tests were carried out with Amsler grid testing. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the effects of health behavior and knowledge about eye health on senile macular degeneration.

Results

The proportion of participants with senile macular degeneration was 11.6%. Factors that significantly increased the risk of senile macular degeneration included eye discomfort and history of ophthalmic examination (p<.05). Factors that significantly decreased the risk of senile macular degeneration included regular change of magnifiers, non-use of magnifiers, and knowledge about preventive effects of non-smoking and antioxidant vitamin intake on senile macular degeneration (p<.05).

Conclusion

This study showed that programs for preventing senile macular degeneration were necessary for elders within communities and the results of this study can be used for developing those programs.

Keywords: Macular degeneration; Health behavior; Knowledge; Aged

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© 2013 Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Table 1

General Characteristics and Health-related Factors (N=388)

Table 1

Table 2

Comparison of Characteristics by Macular Degeneration and non-Macular Degeneration Elderly

Table 2

Table 3

Comparison of Health Behavior and Knowledge of Eye Health by Macular Degeneration and non-Macular Degeneration Elderly

Table 3

Table 4

Associated Factors of Macular Degeneration (N=388)

Table 4

OR=odds ratio; CI=confidence interval.