Association of rheumatoid arthritis with age-related macular degeneration in nationwide longitudinal cohort study

Previous studies on the association between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have shown conflicting results. We sought to assess the association between AMD with/without visual disability (VD) and the risk of RA using National Health Insurance data in South Korea. In total, 3,537,293 individuals who underwent health checkups in 2009 were included and followed until 2019. Participants with VD were defined as those with loss of vision or a visual field defect as certified by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea. Using multivariable adjusted Cox regression analysis, RA hazard ratios were estimated for control and AMD with/without VD groups. In total, 43,772 participants (1.24%) were diagnosed with RA. Individuals with AMD were at higher risk of RA compared to controls, regardless of the presence of VD (aHR 1.11; 95% CI 1.02–1.21). Among individuals with AMD, different risk levels of RA were observed between those without VD (aHR 1.13; 95% CI 1.03–1.21) and those with VD (aHR 0.90; 95% CI 0.64–1.27). AMD was associated with a higher risk of RA, which remained significant as a trend even after adjusting for lifestyle factors and comorbidities.