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Twins Eye Study in Tasmania (TEST): Rationale and Methodology to Recruit and Examine Twins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

David A. Mackey ,
Jane R. MacKinnon ,
Shayne A. Brown ,
Lisa S. Kearns ,
Jonathan B. Ruddle ,
Paul G. Sanfilippo ,
Cong Sun ,
Christopher J. Hammond ,
Terri L. Young  and
Nicholas G. Martin
...Show all authors
David A. Mackey*
Affiliation:
Lions Eye Institute, Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Western Australia, Australia; Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Australia; Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Hobart Hospital, University of Tasmania, Australia. D.Mackey@utas.edu.au
Jane R. MacKinnon
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Hobart Hospital, University of Tasmania, Australia.
Shayne A. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Hobart Hospital, University of Tasmania, Australia.
Lisa S. Kearns
Affiliation:
Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Jonathan B. Ruddle
Affiliation:
Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Paul G. Sanfilippo
Affiliation:
Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Cong Sun
Affiliation:
Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Christopher J. Hammond
Affiliation:
Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology Unit, St. Thomas' Hospital, London, United Kingdom.
Terri L. Young
Affiliation:
Duke Center for Human Genetics, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
Nicholas G. Martin
Affiliation:
Genetics and Population Health, Queensland Institute for Medical Research, Australia.
Alex W. Hewitt
Affiliation:
Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Australia.
*
*Address for correspondence: Professor DA Mackey, Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Department of Ophthalmology, 32 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3002.

Abstract

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Visual impairment is a leading cause of morbidity and poor quality of life in our community. Unravelling the mechanisms underpinning important blinding diseases could allow preventative or curative steps to be implemented. Twin siblings provide a unique opportunity in biology to discover genes associated with numerous eye diseases and ocular biometry. Twins are particularly useful for quantitative trait analysis through genome-wide association and linkage studies. Although many studies involving twins rely on twin registries, we present our approach to the Twins Eye Study in Tasmania to provide insight into possible recruitment strategies, expected participation rates and potential examination strategies that can be considered by other researchers for similar studies. Five separate avenues for cohort recruitment were adopted: (1) piggy-backing existing studies where twins had been recruited, (2) utilizing the national twin registry, (3) word-of-mouth and local media publicity, (4) directly approaching schools, and finally (5) collaborating with other research groups studying twins.

Keywords

ophthalmologyglaucomamyopiageneticsgenome-wide association
Type
Articles
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 12 , Issue 5 , 01 October 2009 , pp. 441 - 454
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009