Cognitive Impairment in Age-related Macular Degeneration and Geographic Atrophy

Purpose To investigate cognitive function in patients with early and late age-related macular degeneration (AMD) compared with an elderly, community-dwelling Korean population without AMD. Design Case-control study. Participants We enrolled 170 AMD patients and 190 non-AMD community-based controls. Methods A comprehensive battery for cognitive function evaluation consisting of 15 psychological tests, including a depression evaluation test, was used. Cognitive function scores were adjusted for age, gender, education, and visual acuity (VA). We categorized AMD as early AMD, exudative AMD, or geographic atrophy. Main Outcome Measures The primary outcome measure was the degree of cognitive impairment, as assessed by the Korean versions of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Neuropsychological Assessment Battery, Benton Visual Retention Test, and Digit Span Test Forward and Backward. Results Patients with AMD showed lower global cognition scores than did normal controls (mean Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] score, 24.97 vs 25.99; P