Biomaterial Database

PERSIAN Eye Cohort Study (PECS): Design, Methodology. 2023

Fateme Alipour, and Hassan Hashemi, and Alireza Lashay, and Fatemeh Jafari, and Nazgol Motamed-Gorji, and Mahmoud Jabbarvand Behrouz, and Mohammad Mirzaei, and Yousef Alizade, and Mohammad Reza Soleymani, and Mohammad Reza Shoja, and Kourosh Shahraki, and Gholam Reza Khataminia, and Hossein Poustchi, and Reza Malekzadeh

Translational Ophthalmology Research Center, Farabi Eye Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

BACKGROUND To report the study protocol, methodology and latest enrollment data of a large epidemiological multi-central eye cohort named PERSIAN Eye Cohort Study (PECS), originating from the ongoing PERSIAN Cohort Study, to investigate the distribution of ophthalmic disorders in different regions and ethnicities of Iran, and determine their associations with various exposures of ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic nature. METHODS A central committee designed the study and equipped six chosen centers (Khameneh, Some'e Sara, Hoveizeh, Yazd, Rafsanjan and Zahedan). A focal point in each center conducted the study under close supervision of the central committee. RESULTS This ongoing study was launched in 2014. Out of 65,580 eligible participants of the PERSIAN Cohort, 48,618 individuals aged 35-70 have been enrolled in the PECS (response rate: 74.13%) until June 2021. Slit lamp and fundus photography were performed for 28,702 (59.03%) and 27,437 (56.43%) individuals, respectively. CONCLUSIONS This large epidemiological multi-central eye cohort can improve our epidemiological knowledge of the prevalent ophthalmic disorders in different regions and ethnicities of Iran, and determine their associations with various exposures of ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic nature. This will be very useful for future planned nationwide and global interventions.