%0 Journal Article
%A Read, Scott A.
%A Cox, Rebecca A.
%A Alonso-Caneiro, David
%A Hopkins, Shelley
%A Wood, Joanne M.
%T Choroidal Thickness in Indigenous Australian Children
%B Translational Vision Science & Technology
%D 2020
%R 10.1167/tvst.9.12.28
%J Translational Vision Science & Technology
%V 9
%N 12
%P 28-28
%@ 2164-2591
%X    This study aimed to examine the choroidal thickness profiles in visually normal Australian Indigenous children, given the important role of the choroid in refractive error and a range of ocular diseases.    Choroidal thickness was assessed across the central 5 mm macular region using enhanced depth imaging spectral domain optical coherence tomography, in 250 children enrolled in an elementary school and a secondary school in rural Queensland, Australia. One hundred (40%) of these children identified as Indigenous Australians.    The subfoveal choroid was significantly thicker in Indigenous children (mean 369 ± 75 µm), compared to non-Indigenous children (355 ± 73 µm; P = 0.03). Subfoveal choroidal thickness was also significantly associated with age (β = +7.6, r2 = 0.105, P = 0.003), and axial length (β = −19.9, r2 = 0.030, P < 0.001). A significantly thicker choroid in Indigenous children was also found in analyses across the central 5 mm macular region (P = 0.008). A significant interaction between Indigenous status and meridian was observed (P = 0.007) with the largest differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children being in the nasal and inferonasal meridians.    This study establishes the normative characteristics of macular choroidal thickness in Indigenous Australian children and demonstrates a significantly thicker choroid compared to non-Indigenous children from the same geographic region. These results may have implications for our understanding of factors predisposing or protecting Australian Indigenous people from a range of conditions associated with choroidal thickness.    The significantly thicker choroid in Australian Indigenous children should be considered in clinical diagnoses and management of conditions associated with choroidal changes.  
%[ 2/25/2021
%U https://doi.org/10.1167/tvst.9.12.28