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Lens opacity frequency higher in blacks than whites in Barbados Eye Study
A higher incidence cortical and nuclear opacities was found in black people than white people in long-term follow-up in a population-based study.
M. Christina Leske and colleagues at Stony Brook University analyzed data from the Barbados Eye Studies, a population-based cohort study, for 2,793 participants who completed 9 years of follow-up. The population in the Barbados study is predominantly black.
Black participants had a higher 9-year incidence of overall lens changes than white participants and a higher incidence of cortical opacities.
The incidence rate for blacks of any cortical opacity was 33.8% and of any nuclear opacity, 42%. Incidence increased with age, and women had a higher risk of cortical and nuclear opacities.
The study is published in the March issue of Ophthalmology.