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Number of people with cataracts projected to grow dramatically by 2020
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The number of Americans affected by cataract will increase by roughly 50% in the next 20 years as the population ages, according to a study based on U.S. census data and the ophthalmic literature.
Members of the Eye Diseases Prevalence Research Group used U.S. census data from 2000 and published population-based studies to estimate the current prevalence of cataract and pseudophakia/aphakia in black, white and Hispanic populations and to project figures for the year 2020. Data were collected from major U.S. population-based studies and, where appropriate, studies in Australia, Barbados and Western Europe. The age-, gender- and race/ethnicity-specific rates derived from these studies were applied to the 2000 U.S. census data.
According to the study authors’ calculations, about 20.5 million (17.2%) Americans older than 40 years have cataract in either eye; 6.1 million (5.1%) have pseudophakia/aphakia. Women have a significantly higher age-adjusted prevalence of cataract than men, the study found. The total number of people who have cataract is expected to rise to 30.1 million by 2020 and people with pseudophakia/aphakia to 9.5 million.
The study is published in the April issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.