Body height and ocular diseases. The Beijing Eye Study.

BACKGROUND

To determine whether body height is associated with ocular diseases.

METHODS

The population-based Beijing Eye Study 2006 included 3,251 (73.2%) subjects out of 4,439 subjects invited to be examined. Ocular and general parameters were examined for associations with body height.

RESULTS

Out of the 3,251 subjects included in the study, measurements of body height were available for 3,214 subjects (98.9%). In univariate analysis, short body height was significantly associated with a higher frequency of angle-closure glaucoma (P = 0.04), trachoma (P < 0.001), and pterygium (P = 0.02), a higher degree of cortical cataract (P < 0.001), and a higher frequency of arterial hypertension (P < 0.001). A multivariate analysis, including all confounding parameters which were significantly associated with body height in univariate analysis (i.e., age, gender, rural versus urban region, level of education) revealed that body height by itself was no longer significantly associated with the presence of any of the diseases tested.

CONCLUSIONS

Angle-closure glaucoma, trachoma, pterygium, cortical cataract and arterial hypertension are present more often in adult Chinese with a short body stature. These associations are due to confounding factors such as age, level of education, and anterior chamber depth, which by themselves are associated with the ocular diseases mentioned.