The relationship between age, axial length and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in the normal elderly population in Taiwan: The chiayi eye study in Taiwan

Chau Yin Chen, Evelyn Jou Chen Huang, Chien Neng Kuo, Pei Lun Wu, Ching Lung Chen, Pei Chen Wu, Shin Hua Wu, Yin Chi King, Chien Hsiung Lai*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aims To interpret how the thickness of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) changes with increasing age, axial length, or anterior chamber depth as measured by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the normal elderly population in Taiwan. Methods A total of 82 volunteers (143 eyes) were enrolled. Generalized estimating equations were used to evaluate the correlation. Results The RNFL was significantly thinner in the superonasal (p = 0.004), inferotemporal (p = 0.046), and temporolower (p = 0.009) segments with age. The same trend was also observed in the superotemporal (p = 0.330) segment, although it was not statistically significant. The global RNFL thickness decreased by 4.97 μm per decade (β = -0.497; p = 0.021), and thinning was significant in the superonasal (-9.90 μm per decade, p < 0.001) and temporolower (-6.78 μm per decade, p < 0.001) segments; the same trend showed borderline significance in the superotemporal (-6.96 μm per decade, p = 0.073) and inferotemporal (-7.23 μm per decade, p = 0.059) segments. In eyes with longer axial length, the RNFLs significantly decreased in the non-temporal segments. Global RNFL thickness decreased by 3.086 μm for each additional millimeter of axial length (β = -3.086; p < 0.001). Conclusions Changes in RNFL thickness were correlated with age in the superonasal, superotemporal, inferotemporal, and temporolower segments, and were correlated with axial length in the non-temporal segments. Anterior chamber depth was not correlated with RNFL thickness.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0194116
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume13
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 03 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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