Refractive errors affect one-third of U.S., Western European populations

About one-third of people over 40 years of age in the United States and Western Europe are affected by refractive errors, as are up to one-fifth of Australians in the same age group, according to a meta-analysis of population-based studies.

The Eye Diseases Prevalence Research Group obtained data on refractive error from six eye studies. Data were extracted for the year 2000 and projected out to 2020. The total population of the six studies was 29,281 people from the United States, Western Europe and Australia. The subjects were stratified by sex, race or ethnicity and 5-year age intervals.

The population included people with phakic eyes, with and without spherical equivalent refractive error in the worse eye of at least +3 D, –1 D or worse, and –5 D or worse.

In the United States, the estimated crude prevalence for hyperopia of +3 D or more was 9.9%, in Europeans the rate was 11.6%, and in Australians the prevalence was 5.8%. In total population figures, the condition affects 11.8 million U.S. residents, 21.6 million Western European residents and 470,000 Australians.

Myopia of at least –1 D had a crude prevalence rate of 25.4% among U.S. residents (30.4 million), 26.6% among Western Europeans (49.6 million) and 16.4% among Australians (1.3 million). The prevalence of higher myopia (–5 D or worse) was 4.5% among U.S. residents (5.3 million), 4.6% among Western Europeans (8.5 million), and 2.8% among Australians (230,000).

According to the authors, the projected prevalence rates for 2020 are similar.

The study is published in the April issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.