PURPOSE

To identify risk factors associated with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) among a diverse group of patients throughout the United States.

DESIGN

Longitudinal cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS

All beneficiaries aged ≥ 55 years who were continuously enrolled in a managed care network for at least 2 years and who had ≥ 2 visits to an eye care provider from 2001 to 2009.

METHODS

Insurance billing codes were used to identify individuals with a newly diagnosed CRVO. Multivariable Cox regression was performed to determine the factors associated with CRVO development.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of being diagnosed with CRVO.

RESULTS

Of the 494 165 enrollees who met the study inclusion criteria, 1302 (0.26%) were diagnosed with CRVO over 5.4 (± 1.8) years. After adjustment for known confounders, blacks had a 58% increased risk of CRVO compared with whites (HR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.25-1.99), and women had a 25% decreased risk of CRVO compared with men (HR, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.66-0.85). A diagnosis of stroke increased the hazard of CRVO by 44% (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.23-1.68), and hypercoagulable state was associated with a 145% increased CRVO risk (HR, 2.45; 95% CI, 1.40-4.28). Individuals with end-organ damage from hypertension (HTN) or diabetes mellitus (DM) had a 92% (HR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.52-2.42) and 53% (HR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.28-1.84) increased risk of CRVO, respectively, relative to those without these conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms that HTN and vascular diseases are important risk factors for CRVO. We also identify black race as being associated with CRVO, which was not well appreciated previously. Furthermore, we show that compared with patients without DM, individuals with end-organ damage from DM have a heightened risk of CRVO, whereas those with uncomplicated DM are not at increased risk of CRVO. This finding may provide a potential explanation for the conflicting reports in the literature on the association between CRVO and DM. Information from analyses such as this can be used to create a risk calculator to identify possible individuals at greatest risk for CRVO.