en Ophtalmology Ophtalmology Original Article Original Article <p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Background: </span></i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt">Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in elderly population in the developing countries.<span style="background: white"><font size="2"> </font></span>Previous epidemiological studies revealed various potential modifiable risk factors for this disease.</span><font size="2"><span style="background: white color: black"> The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of AMD among elderly living in Babol, North of Iran.</span></font></font><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Methods:</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="2"> </font></span>The study population of this<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="2"> </font></span>cross-sectional study came from <span style="color: black"><font size="2"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></font></span>Amirkola Health and Ageing Project (AHAP), the first comprehensive cohort<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"><font size="2"> </font></span>study of the health of people aged 60 years and over in Amirkola, North of Iran.<span style="color: black"><font size="2"> The prevalence of AMD was estimated and its risk was determined using logistic regression analysis (LRA) with regard to variables such as </font></span>smoking, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes.</span></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Results:</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 10pt"> <span style="background: white color: black"><font size="2">Five hundred and five participants with mean age of </font></span>71.55±5.9 (ranged 60-89)<span style="background: white color: black"><font size="2"> years entered the study.</font></span> The prevalence of AMD was 17.6%. There was a significant association between AMD and smoking (P<0.001) but no association was seen with AMD and age, level of education, history of hyperlipidemia, hypertension and diabetes. Multiple LRAs revealed that smoking increased AMD by odds ratio of 5.03 (95% confidence interval 2.47-10.23 p<0.001) as compared to nonsmokers</span></font></p><p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i><span style="color: blue font-size: 10pt">Conclusion: </span></i></b><span style="color: black font-size: 10pt">According to our findings, the prevalence of AMD was relatively high and smoking increased the risk of AMD in the elderly population.</span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font> Aged, Smoker, Macular Degeneration, Risk factors 141 147 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-101-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Ahmad Rasoulinejad rasoulinejad@gamail.com 10031947532846003526 10031947532846003526 No Dept of Ophthalmology, Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Amin Zarghami aminzarghami18@yahoo.com 10031947532846003527 10031947532846003527 No Student Research Comittee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Seyed Reza Hosseini 10031947532846003528 10031947532846003528 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Neda Rajaee 10031947532846003529 10031947532846003529 No dept of ophthalmology, Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Seyed Elahe Rasoulinejad 10031947532846003530 10031947532846003530 No Babol university of medical sciences, Babol, Iran Ebrahim Mikaniki ebrahim_mikaninki@yahoo.com 10031947532846003531 10031947532846003531 Yes dept of ophthalmology, Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran