Occurence of Retinal Vein Occlusion Associated with Nonideal CV Health Score

New findings suggest the strongest cardiovascular health-related risk factor for retinal vein occlusion (RVO) was non ideal blood pressure, followed by non ideal body mass index (BMI).

The associations were determined based on cardiovascular health metrics referred to as Life’s Simple 7, indicative of an unhealthy lifestyle.

A dose-dependent positive association was observed between a nonideal cardiovascular health score and RVO occurrence.

“These findings are important with respect to the identification of individuals at higher risk of RVO,” wrote study author Ryo Obata, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo.

The retrospective cohort study included individuals in the JMDC Claims Database who underwent health checkups between 2005 and 2020. Investigators determined exposures including each component of the cardiovascular health metric and the number of non ideal cardiovascular health metrics.

Cardiovascular health metrics included body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, smoking, dietary habits, and physical activity. Non ideal cardiovascular metrics consisted of a non ideal cardiovascular health score, which ranged from 0 [healthiest] to 7 [unhealthiest].

Study outcomes were considered RVO and central RVO (CRVO) occurrence and were identified on the first date of diagnosis. Obata and colleagues performed Cox regression analyses, including covariates such as age, sex, and glaucoma.

Those main outcomes reported the hazard ratios (HR) for RVO and CRVO occurrence for each component of the cardiovascular health metrics and the non ideal cardiovascular health score.

The study included a total of 2,093,536 individuals. Under a mean follow-up period of 1070 ± 884 days, data show there were 3265 RVO and 789 CRVO events.

Investigators observed an increased risk of RVO occurrence had the strongest association with a non ideal blood pressure (HR, 2.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.06 - 2.46) and was followed by a nonideal body mass index (HR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.21 - 1.41).

Moreover, the findings suggest patients with non improvement in blood pressure in 1 year showed a higher risk of RVO occurrence compared to those with improvement (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.70 - 2.52).

The data show the adjusted HRs of individuals with non ideal cardiovascular health scores of 6 to 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 were 3.76 (95% CI, 2.66 - 5.30), 2.87 (95% CI, 2.06 - 4.00), 2.57 (95% CI, 1.85 - 3.57), 2.22 (95% CI, 1.60 - 3.08), 1.79 (95% CI, 1.29 - 2.48), and 1.39 (95% CI, 0.99 - 1.95), respectively.

Obata and colleagues noted that similar results were observed for patients with CRVO.

The study, “Association between Retinal Vein Occlusion and Life’s Simple 7 Cardiovascular Health Metrics: A Large Claims Database Study,” was published in Ophthalmology Retina.