Purpose: To assess the association between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and mortality in a population-based setting.
Procedures: At baseline in 2001, the Beijing Eye Study examined 4,378 subjects for AMD with a detected frequency of 110/4,378 (2.5%) subjects for early AMD and of 12/4,378 (0.3%) subjects for late AMD. In 2006, all study participants were re-invited for a follow-up examination.
Results: Out of the 4,378 subjects, 3,218 (73.5%) returned for a follow-up examination while 138 (3.2%) were dead and 1,022 (23.3%) did not agree to be re-examined or had moved away. Early AMD and late AMD were not significantly associated with mortality (p = 0.40 and 0.33, respectively), neither in univariate analysis nor in multivariate analysis.
Conclusions: AMD may not be associated with an increased mortality in adult Chinese.