Association between anticholinergic burden and geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration: a case-control study.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye. [email protected].
- 2Division of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Ankara, Türkiye.
- 3Department of Geriatrics, Ankara Yenimahalle Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye.
- 4Atatürk City Health Development Research and Application Center, University of Health Sciences Turkiye, Balıkesir, Türkiye.
Abstract
Background
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment in older adults. Given the high prevalence of polypharmacy in this population, cumulative medication effects, particularly anticholinergic burden, may represent a clinically relevant factor requiring further investigation. This study aimed to investigate the association between anticholinergic burden, overall drug burden, and geographic atrophy secondary age-related macular degeneration (GA secondary to AMD).Methods
In this case-control study, 102 participants aged 55-90 years were included. Anticholinergic burden was assessed using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale. Medications regularly used by patients for chronic conditions and continued for a minimum duration of three months were included. Drug burden was defined as polypharmacy (≥ 5 medications). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed adjusting for age, gender, and multimorbidity.Results
Patients with GA secondary to AMD had a higher number of medications and a greater prevalence of both drug burden and anticholinergic burden compared to controls (p = 0.010, p = 0.039, and p = 0.046, respectively). In multivariate analysis, anticholinergic burden (OR: 2.55, 95% CI: 1.11-5.84, p = 0.026) and drug burden (OR: 3.41, 95% CI: 1.21-9.58, p = 0.017) were independently associated with GA secondary to AMD.Conclusions
Increased anticholinergic and overall drug burden were independently associated with GA secondary to AMD in older adults. These findings suggest a potential relationship between cumulative medication exposure and AMD. Further prospective studies are needed to determine whether this association has clinical or causal significance.
Related
- OphthoEvidence Report: Comparative effects of treatments for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration: A protocol for a living systematic review and network meta-analysis
- Quantitative Fundus Autofluorescence in Geographic Atrophy Secondary to AMD: Comparison With Stargardt Disease, PRPH2-Associated Retinal Dystrophies, and Healthy Controls
- Multifocal Electroretinography Outcomes Following AVD-104 Treatment for Geographic Atrophy
- Multi-omics liquid biopsy identifies mitochondrial dysfunction in geographic atrophy and supports intraocular bioavailability of α-ketoglutarate
- High-Resolution En Face OCT of the RPE in Geographic Atrophy Captures Patterns Resembling Fundus Autofluorescence
BibTeX
@article{katipoglu2026association,
title = {{Association between anticholinergic burden and geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration: a case-control study.}},
author = {Zeynep Katipoğlu and Bilal Katipoglu and Meydan Turan},
journal = {BMC ophthalmology},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12886-026-05184-y},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958104},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association between anticholinergic burden and geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration: a case-control study.
AU - Zeynep Katipoğlu
AU - Bilal Katipoglu
AU - Meydan Turan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/03
JO - BMC ophthalmology
DO - 10.1186/s12886-026-05184-y
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958104
AB - Background Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment in older adults. Given the high prevalence of polypharmacy in this population, cumulative medication effects, particularly anticholinergic burden, may represent a clinically relevant factor requiring further investigation. This study aimed to investigate the association between anticholinergic burden, overall drug burden, and geographic atrophy secondary age-related macular degeneration (GA secondary to AMD).Methods In this case-control study, 102 participants aged 55-90 years were included. Anticholinergic burden was assessed using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale. Medications regularly used by patients for chronic conditions and continued for a minimum duration of three months were included. Drug burden was defined as polypharmacy (≥ 5 medications). Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed adjusting for age, gender, and multimorbidity.Results Patients with GA secondary to AMD had a higher number of medications and a greater prevalence of both drug burden and anticholinergic burden compared to controls (p = 0.010, p = 0.039, and p = 0.046, respectively). In multivariate analysis, anticholinergic burden (OR: 2.55, 95% CI: 1.11-5.84, p = 0.026) and drug burden (OR: 3.41, 95% CI: 1.21-9.58, p = 0.017) were independently associated with GA secondary to AMD.Conclusions Increased anticholinergic and overall drug burden were independently associated with GA secondary to AMD in older adults. These findings suggest a potential relationship between cumulative medication exposure and AMD. Further prospective studies are needed to determine whether this association has clinical or causal significance.
SN - 1471-2415
ER -