Fig. 3

Associations of Z-score for PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and EC with Z-score for bifurcation density, corneal nerve density, corneal nerve length, and corneal nerve fractal dimension. Standardized regression coefficients (stβ) represent the differences in corneal nerve measures in SD per SD greater measure of air pollutants. For PM2.5, PM10, and EC, 1 SD corresponds to 39.9 number of branches/mm2 for corneal nerve bifurcation density, 24.3 number of main and branches/mm2 for corneal nerve density, 4.4 mm/mm2 for corneal nerve length, 0.1 (unit-less) for corneal nerve fractal dimension, 1.4 µg/m3 for PM2.5, 1.7 µg/m3 for PM10, 3.1 µg/m3 for NO2, and 0.1 µg/m3 for EC. Variables entered into model: age, sex, level of education (high, medium, low), glucose metabolism status (prediabetes and type 2 diabetes versus normal glucose metabolism), corneal confocal microscopy lag time, inclusion year of participants, smoking status (never, former, current), and alcohol consumption status (none, low, high). Asterisks indicate values that are statistically significant (P < 0.05). Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; SD, standard deviation