Purpose: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of optic disc drusen and their associations with ocular and general parameters.
Methods: The Beijing Eye Study included 4439 of 5324 subjects invited to participate (response rate 83.4%). All subjects were aged > or = 40 years. The present investigation involved 8594 (96.8%) eyes of 4324 (97.4%) subjects from whom readable fundus photographs of at least one eye were available. The main outcome parameter was the presence of optic disc drusen defined as round, whitish bodies.
Results: Optic disc drusen were detected in nine (0.1 +/- 0.05%) eyes of eight subjects (five women). The prevalence rate was 0.2 +/- 0.07% (95% confidence interval 0.07-0.33%) per subject. Optic disc drusen were significantly associated with small optic discs (p < 0.001). They were not statistically associated with age (p = 0.90), gender (p = 0.73), intraocular pressure (p = 0.97), refractive error (p = 0.71), visual field defects (p = 0.47) or corrected visual acuity (p = 0.84).
Conclusions: Optic disc drusen are present in about two in 1000 adult Chinese people in Northern China. The main associated factor is a small optic disc.