Globally, the burden of eye diseases is primarily due to cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy
(DR) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). These diseases compromise the visual function
of individuals affected, thus leading to a high global prevalence of visual impairment (VI) and
blindness. In the United Kingdom (UK), DR, AMD, along with cataracts and glaucoma, are prominent
contributors to vision loss and blindness. Socioeconomic status (SES) is a determinant of various
aspects of health and well-being, with low socioeconomic status being significantly associated with
an increased risk of several eye disorders, including AMD and DR. However, much of this evidence
comes from small-scale case-control studies and there is a scarcity of large population-based
longitudinal cohort studies examining this association in the UK population. Furthermore, existing
studies that explored the association between SES and eye diseases mainly focused on isolated
parameters (e.g. poverty, equity) and specific eye conditions (e.g., AMD), which do not offer a
comprehensive understanding of how SES influences the overall burden of eye diseases. By
leveraging the UK Biobank database, this proposed study seeks to describe the distribution of eye
diseases in the study population, explore the association between SES and the risk of incident eye
disease, and investigate the mechanisms through which SES influences eye disease. Additionally,
the study will examine the extent to which SES is independently associated with risk over and above
genetic predisposition (e.g., whether low SES further increases the risk for individuals with a high
genetic risk for AMD or whether these factors interact to influence the absolute risk of developing
the disease). Findings from this study will provide crucial evidence to inform policymakers and
relevant stakeholders in developing public health policies.
