Association between Macular Thickness Profiles and Visual Function in Healthy Eyes: The Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases (SEED) Study

This study aimed to evaluate the association between optical coherence tomography (OCT)-measured retinal layer thickness parameters with clinical and patient-centred visual outcomes in healthy eyes. Participants aged 40 and above were recruited from the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases Study, a multi-ethnic population-based study. Average macular, ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL), and outer retinal thickness parameters were obtained using the Cirrus High Definition-OCT. Measurements of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and 11-item visual functioning questionnaire (VF-11) were performed. Associations between macular thickness parameters, with BCVA and Rasch-transformed VF-11 scores (in logits) were assessed using multivariable linear regression models with generalized estimating equations, adjusted for relevant confounders. 4,540 subjects (7,744 eyes) with a mean age of 58.8 ± 8.6 years were included. The mean BCVA (LogMAR) was 0.10 ± 0.11 and mean VF-11 score was 5.20 ± 1.29. In multivariable regression analysis, thicker macula (per 20 µm; β = −0.009) and GCIPL (per 20 µm; β = −0.031) were associated with better BCVA (all p ≤ 0.001), while thicker macula (per 20 µm; β = 0.04) and GCIPL (per 20 µm, β = 0.05) were significantly associated with higher VF-11 scores (all p < 0.05). In conclusion, among healthy Asian eyes, thicker macula and GCIPL were associated with better vision and self-reported visual functioning. These findings provide further understanding on the potential influence of macular thickness on visual function.