Cohort profile: rationale and methods of UK Biobank repeat imaging study eye measures to study dementia

BMJ Open · 12 authors, 12 centres

AI SUMMARY

FIDELITY 100%

This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.

AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

TRACE TO SOURCE

“

TL;DR

This paper outlines the rationale and methods for collecting retinal imaging data (OCT and fundus photos) in the UK Biobank Repeat Imaging Study. The central goal is to create a large resource to investigate associations between eye biomarkers and dementia, cognitive ageing, and other health outcomes.

Full summary

630 CHARS

The paper describes the rationale and methodology for incorporating eye and vision assessments, including optical coherence tomography (OCT) and colour fundus photographs, into the UK Biobank Repeat Imaging Study. The rationale is supported by prior UK Biobank findings showing associations between retinal structures and cognitive function or brain MRI phenotypes. The authors propose that supplementing the imaging protocol with eye measures will support research into dementia diagnostics and its links to comorbid diseases. The paper presents a study design for future data collection and is not a report of new study results.

STUDY TYPE

cohort

SPECIALTY

ophthalmology

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10314584

Cohort profile: rationale and methods of UK Biobank repeat imaging study eye measures to study dementia

BMJ Open

READ THE FULL PAPER

ABSTRACT

Abstract Purpose The retina provides biomarkers of neuronal and vascular health that offer promising insights into cognitive ageing, mild cognitive impairment and dementia. This article described the rationale and methodology of eye and vision assessments with the aim of supporting the study of dementia in the UK Biobank Repeat Imaging study. Participants UK Biobank is a large-scale, multicentre, prospective cohort containing in-depth genetic, lifestyle, environmental and health information from half a million participants aged 40–69 enrolled in 2006–2010 across the UK. A subset (up to 60 000 participants) of the cohort will be invited to the UK Biobank Repeat Imaging Study to collect repeated brain, cardiac and abdominal MRI scans, whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, carotid ultrasound, as well as retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) and colour fundus photographs. Findings to date UK Biobank has helped make significant advances in understanding risk factors for many common diseases, including for dementia and cognitive decline. Ophthalmic genetic and epidemiology studies have also benefited from the unparalleled combination of very large numbers of participants, deep phenotyping and longitudinal follow-up of the cohort, with comprehensive health data linkage to disease outcomes. In addition, we have used UK Biobank data to describe the relationship between retinal structures, cognitive function and brain MRI-derived phenotypes. Future plans The collection of eye-related data (eg, OCT), as part of the UK Biobank Repeat Imaging study, will take place in 2022–2028. The depth and breadth and longitudinal nature of this dataset, coupled with its open-access policy, will create a major new resource for dementia diagnostic discovery and to better understand its association with comorbid diseases. In addition, the broad and diverse data available in this study will support research into ophthalmic diseases and various other health outcomes beyond dementia. Keywords: ophthalmology, epidemiology, dementia

CITATION EXPORT

Paul J Foster, Denize Atan, Anthony Khawaja et al.. Cohort profile: rationale and methods of UK Biobank repeat imaging study eye measures to study dementia. BMJ Open. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069258

AUTHORS

12 · 12 CENTRES

Paul J Foster, Denize Atan, Anthony Khawaja, Andrew Lotery, Tom MacGillivray, Christopher G Owen, Praveen J Patel, Axel Petzold, Alicja Rudnicka, Zihan Sun, Simon Sheard, Naomi Allen

1 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
2 Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
3 NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust & UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK
4 Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
5 Clinical Research Imaging Centre, Queens Medical Research Institution, Edinburgh, UK
6 Population Health Research Institute, St Georges Medical School, University of London, London, UK
7 NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
8 Department of Molecular Neurosciences, Moorfields Eye Hospital and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK
9 Departments of Neurology, Ophthalmology and Expertise Center for Neuro-ophthalmology, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
10 Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
11 UK Biobank, Stockport, UK
12 Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK