Fateme Alipour
1 
, Hassan Hashemi
2, Alireza Lashay
1* , Fatemeh Jafari
1, Nazgol Motamed-Gorji
3, Mahmoud Jabbarvand Behrouz
1, Mohammad Mirzaei
4, Yousef Alizade
5, Mohammad Reza Soleymani
6, Mohammad Reza Shoja
7, Kourosh Shahraki
8, Gholam Reza Khataminia
9, Hossein Poustchi
10, Reza Malekzadeh
31 Translational Ophthalmology Research Center, Farabi Eye Hospital, Department of Ophthalmology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
2 Noor Ophthalmology Research Center, Tehran, Iran
3 Digestive Disease Research Institute, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
4 Department of Ophthalmology, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
5 Amiralmomenin hospital, Department of ophthalmology, Gillan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
6 Department of Ophthalmology, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran
7 Department of Ophthalmology, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
8 Department of Ophthalmology, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
9 Department of Ophthalmology, Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
10 Liver, Pancreatic, and Biliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
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.
Conclusion: 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.