Introduction: physiopathologically, there exists a relationship between age-related macular degeneration and cognitive decline, as both are diseases involving protein deposits—either Tau or beta-amyloid—which are responsible for their clinical and imaging manifestations. Some studies propose a link between the severity of macular degeneration and the degree of dementia a patient may develop, such as the AREDS2 study. Objective To identify and understand the relationship between cognitive status in patients with age-related macular degeneration, emphasizing its pathophysiological association through the review of clinical trials and analytical observational studies. Eligibility Criteria Only analytical observational articles including cohort studies, case-control studies, or prevalence studies, as well as clinical trials in English and Spanish, were included. These studies related or associated age-related macular degeneration with cognitive status. Sources of Evidence The search was conducted in databases such as Scielo, Scopus, and PubMed. Data Collection and Analysis A scoping review was conducted following the PRISMA ScR methodology and using the Systematic Review Accelerator software. Literature searches were performed in Scielo, Scopus, and PubMed databases using English and Spanish terms between 2009 and 2022. A total of 217 articles were obtained, reviewed solely by researchers, and data extraction and article analysis were peer-reviewed. 10 Duplicate articles were excluded. Articles that did not mention cognitive decline and/or macular degeneration in their title or abstract were excluded, resulting in a review of 47 articles. Results A total of 217 articles were identified in the literature search using the specified MESH terms. Ultimately, 24 articles met the inclusion criteria, with 16 articles identifying a relationship or association between age-related macular degeneration and cognitive status, and only 4 identifying common pathophysiology between these diseases. Conclusions It was determined that a relationship exists between age-related macular degeneration and cognitive decline. However, it was evidenced as an interacting factor that tools used to assess cognitive decline heavily depend on visual acuity. Therefore, in more severe stages of age-related macular degeneration, their relationship cannot be broadly determined.
