Visual impairment in US more prevalent than expected
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Visual acuity loss and blindness rates within the U.S. vary depending on factors such as geographic location, age, sex or race and ethnicity, a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology revealed.
“People in the U.S. fear losing vision more than memory, hearing or speech, and consider visual acuity loss among the top four worst things that could happen to them,” Abraham Flaxman, MD, PhD, of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and colleagues said. “No existing estimates appear to have used empirical data to estimate geographic differences, created estimates for persons younger than 40 years or accounted for increased prevalence in group quarters.”
Flaxman and colleagues gathered data on visual acuity loss and blindness from various studies and surveys provided by the CDC’s Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System between March 2018 and March 2020. Using a Bayesian meta-regression model, the researchers calculated the prevalence of visual impairments compared with variables such as state of residence, age, sex, race and ethnicity for 2017.
The ages of these individuals ranged from young children to older patients who differ in sex, location and ethnicity.
The investigators found that 7.08 million people live with visual acuity loss across the U.S. (95% uncertainty interval, 6.32-7.89). Of that group, 1.62 million people are younger than 40 years (95% uncertainty interval, 1.32-1.92).
Of the number of people with visual acuity loss, 1.08 million people are blind (95% uncertainty interval, 0.82-1.3) and 141,000 of those individuals are younger than 40 years (95% uncertainty interval, 95,000-187,000).
Flaxman and colleagues found that “visual acuity loss or blindness increased as a function of age.” Also, Black and Hispanic individuals are at a higher risk for visual acuity loss than white individuals and more women experienced visual impairment than men.
Flaxman and colleagues said their study includes some limitations such as outdated data and subjective responses to the surveys they used in their regression model.
“Visual acuity loss and blindness continue to be a substantial burden to the U.S. population, and our new analysis indicates that the issue is even more substantial than has previously been recognized,” Flaxman and colleagues said. More research in this area “could be valuable for targeted efforts to prevent or treat these conditions.”
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