Cause-specific prevalence of bilateral visual impairment in Victoria, Australia: The visual impairment project☆
Section snippets
Methods
A detailed method has been reported elsewhere.10, 11 The cluster-stratified sample was drawn from nine randomly selected pairs of adjacent census collector districts in urban Melbourne and four pairs of randomly selected adjacent census collector districts in four rural communities in Victoria. Target sample size for the study was based on the ability to measure the prevalence of visual impairment (<6/18 ≥3/60) in Victoria with relative precision of 80% (alpha = 0.05), assuming that the
Results
The numbers of eligible persons identified were 5520, 3912 in the urban residential cohort and 1608 in the rural residential cohort. A total of 4744 (86%) eligible persons, 3271 (84%) urban residents, and 1473 (92%) rural residents participated in interviews and examinations. Participation rates for those aged 65 years and older (1513 of 1786, 85%) compared with those less than 65 years of age (3231 of 3734, 86%) were not statistically different (chi square, 1 df, 3.2, P = 0.07). The age and
Discussion
This study describes the cause-specific population-weighted prevalence of vision impairment in the state of Victoria. Across all levels of vision impairment, the prevalence of visual impairment is greatest in those aged 65 years and older. Uncorrected refractive error is the leading cause of mild through moderate vision impairment. Severe to profound vision impairment is caused by a number of eye conditions, including uncorrected refractive error.
The population-weighted prevalence of
Conclusions
Uncorrected refractive error remains a major cause of vision impairment even though it is easily prevented. Program development to reduce the vision impairment caused by uncorrected refractive error, cataract, glaucoma, and diabetes mellitus should be attainable with current resources and technology.
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Supported by National Health and Medical Research Council, Canberra, ACT, Australia; Victorian Health Promotion Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Estate of the late Dorothy Edols, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Ansell Ophthalmology Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Jack Brockhoff Foundation, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.