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Effect of refractive status on retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in Chinese Population

  • Glaucoma
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the relationship between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and other related parameters measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and the refractive error of eyes.

Methods

A total of 5394 subjects were enrolled in this population-based cohort study, who were divided into three groups by refractive state after they underwent a standardized ophthalmic examination: emmetropia (the absolute value should range from 0 to 0.5 D), low-moderate myopia (the absolute value of myopic error should range from 0.5 to 6 D), and high myopia (the absolute value of myopic error should be over than 6 D). R 3.6.1 software was adopted for statistical analysis.

Results

Two thousand five hundred fifty-two subjects (4548 eyes) were collected in this study, with an average age of 53.14 ± 10.64 years. There were significant differences among groups in average central corneal curvature, spherical equivalent, and axial length (P < 0.001). The measurements of average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) were 113.95 ± 10.62 μm, 112.97 ± 11.59 μm, and 101.88 ± 15.67 μm, respectively, in the emmetropia, low-moderate, and high myopia groups (P < 0.001). Meanwhile, there was a decreasing trend of cup area, cup volume, disc area, and rim area in the high myopia group compared with the emmetropia group (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

The measurements of RNFL thickness vary greatly with refractive error, and this study indicated that it is of great significance for the accurate diagnosis of glaucoma to establish an individualized RNFL thickness database.

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Funding

National Science and Technology Infrastructure Program,KJB-KJZC-2011-001,Ningli Wang,National Natural Science Foundation of China,81730027,Ningli Wang

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dongcheng District, Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, No. 1 Dong Jiao Min Xiang Street, Beijing, People’s Republic of China, 100730

    Jian Wu, Yifan Du, Caixia Lin, Qian Qian Ji & Ningli Wang

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Jian Wu & Wei Chen

  3. Huaihe Hospital of Henan University, Henan, 475000, China

    Jianli Du

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  1. Jian Wu
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Consortia

The Handan Eye Study Group

Contributions

Jian Wu completed the design, data collection, data analysis and manuscript writing of this study. Yifan Du participated in the method design of this study, Caixia Lin participated in the statistical analysis of this study, Wei Chen participated in the grammar modification of the manuscript, Jianli Du and Qianqian Ji participated in the later revision of this study. Ningli Wang was the corresponding author of this study, is responsible for the overall content as guarantor, accepts full responsibility for the finished work and the conduct of the study, had access to the data.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ningli Wang.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

According to the Helsinki Declaration, our study has obtained the ethical clearance from the Ethics Committee of Beijing Tongren Hospital and written informed consent from all participants. For those who are illiterate or blind, the consent was read to them and the consent form was marked with an inked forefinger. After that, the consent form with an inked forefinger was approved by the Ethics Committee.

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Contribution to the field

Considering RNFL thickness in the diagnosis of glaucoma, the impact of the refractive error on the retinal nerve fiber layer thickness is an important factor, so it is of significance to explore the influence. This study attempts to show the impact of different degrees of refractive error on RNFL thickness, hoping that related materials can be available for such kind of research.

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Table 4

Table 4 Appendix: the Handan Eye Study
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Wu, J., Du, Y., Lin, C. et al. Effect of refractive status on retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in Chinese Population. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 261, 201–211 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-022-05753-z

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