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March 15, 2021
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Global amblyopia prevalence predicted to climb

A meta-analysis of the global incidence of amblyopia identified a prevalence rate of 1.44%, with an estimated increase to 221.9 million cases by the year 2040.

Perspective from Rachelle Lin, OD, FAAO

The researchers published the study findings in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

“While a substantial body of data is available on the epidemiology of amblyopia, it is highly fragmented, and reported prevalence rate varies considerably by region and age,” Zhujun Fu, of the Children’s Hospital of Nanjing, and colleagues wrote. “To date, a few data are summarizing the global trend of the prevalence to guide global strategies.”

Fu and colleagues performed a systemic review of 60 amblyopia studies from 1950 to 2018 involving a total of 16,385 amblyopia cases and 1,859,327 individuals, to estimate the global prevalence of amblyopia; assess the differences in prevalence by region, age and ethnicity; and to predict the number of individuals with amblyopia over the next few decades.

Researchers evaluated studies from Asia, Europe, Oceania, North America, Africa and Latin America-Caribbean. They also looked at age group, income level and amblyopia as defined by slightly varied best corrected visual acuity criteria.

Amblyopia was found to be more prevalent in high-income than low-income areas and more prevalent in Europe (2.90%) and North America (2.41%) than in Asia (1.9%) and Africa (0.73%). The highest prevalence rate was found in individuals older than 20 years (3.29%). The researchers indicated higher global prevalence of refractive amblyopia, cured or partially improved by refractive correction, than strabismus and visual deprivation amblyopia.

Researchers estimated the number of individuals with amblyopia will increase to 175.2 million in 2030 and 221.9 million in 2040, with the greatest number of individuals with amblyopia coming from Asia and a 397% growth rate coming from Africa. Despite the current highest prevalence of amblyopia in Europe, researchers suggest low fertility rate and population decline will decrease cases.

“These findings further support the need for improvements in health eye care services in Asia and Africa” wrote Fu and colleagues.