Racial Differences in the Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration

White persons are generally more likely than black persons to have medium or large drusen, focal pigment abnormalities, and advanced AMD. Racial differences were prominent for nonneovascular AMD features only when present in the central zone. These data suggest that black individuals may have a mechanism for protection in the central zone against these critical fundus features, which themselves convey high risk of progression to advanced AMD.