Baseline characteristics of the cases and controls
| Baseline characteristic | Controls without visual impairment (n=7704) | Cases with visual impairment but without VRIA (n=1671) | Cases with visual impairment and VRIA (n=419) | |
| Age, median (IQR) | 61 (54–65) | 61 (54–65) | 61 (55–66) | |
| Sex | ||||
| Female, n (%) | 4288 (55.7) | 956 (57.2) | 206 (49.2) | |
| Male, n (%) | 3416 (44.3) | 715 (42.8) | 213 (50.8) | |
| Ethnicity | ||||
| White, n (%) | 6881 (89.9) | 1503 (90.5) | 364 (87.5) | |
| Asian or Asian British, n (%) | 257 (3.4) | 49 (3.0) | 22 (5.3) | |
| Black or Black British, n (%) | 374 (4.9) | 73 (4.4) | 22 (5.3) | |
| Other ethnic group, n (%) | 142 (1.9) | 36 (2.2) | 8 (1.9) | |
| Townsend deprivation index quintiles | ||||
| First—least deprived | 1304 (16.9) | 227 (13.6) | 63 (15.1) | |
| Second | 1474 (19.2) | 280 (16.8) | 70 (16.7) | |
| Third | 1501 (19.5) | 335 (20.1) | 87 (20.8) | |
| Fourth | 1763 (22.9) | 377 (22.6) | 103 (24.6) | |
| Fifth—most deprived | 1653 (21.5) | 448 (26.9) | 95 (22.7) | |
| Blood pressure diastolic, median (IQR) | 82 (75–89) | 82 (75–89) | 82 (75–88) | |
| Blood pressure systolic, median (IQR) | 141 (128–154) | 140 (127–154) | 142 (129–155) | |
| Body mass index category | ||||
| Normal/Underweight, n (%) | 2366 (31.8) | 521 (32.3) | 132 (32.1) | |
| Overweight, n (%) | 3251 (43.7) | 678 (42.0) | 171 (41.6) | |
| Obese, n (%) | 1816 (24.4) | 416 (25.8) | 108 (26.3) | |
| Whole body impedance, median (IQR) | 595 (534–664) | 598 (539–667) | 583 (527–652) | |
| Waist:hip ratio, median (IQR) | 0.88 (0.81–0.94) | 0.88 (0.81–0.94) | 0.89 (0.82–0.95) | |
| Pulse wave arterial stiffness index, median (IQR) | 9.34 (7.26–11.37) | 9.28 (7.2–11.24) | 9.82 (7.46–11.54) | |
| Current smoking status | ||||
| No, n (%) | 6989 (91.0) | 1485 (88.9) | 374 (89.3) | |
| Yes, n (%) | 485 (6.3) | 143 (8.6) | 32 (7.6) | |
| Occasionally, n (%) | 203 (2.6) | 42 (2.5) | 13 (3.1) | |
| Medications | ||||
| Systemic hypertension, n (%) | 1804 (23.6) | 405 (24.5) | 107 (25.8) | |
| Hypercholesterolaemia, n (%) | 1597 (20.9) | 367 (22.2) | 107 (25.8) | |
| Medical history | ||||
| Cancer, n (%) | 806 (10.5) | 173 (10.4) | 42 (10.0) | |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 458 (7.7) | 114 (8.6) | 42 (11.8) | |
| Cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease, n (%) | 2431 (40.8) | 544 (40.9) | 151 (42.4) | |
| Depression: n (%) | 392 (6.6) | 79 (5.9) | 19 (5.3) | |
VRIA, vitreoretinal interface abnormalities.