The prevalence of visual impairment has doubled in 30 years
Chinese scientists analyzed global data on visual impairment in working-age people around the world and found that more than 437 million cases of visual impairment were reported worldwide in 2019. This is an increase of 91.46 percent since 1990. Eastern Europe saw the largest increase in incidence, and among all countries and territories, Nepal was the leader in the national incidence of visual impairment in 2019, while Russia was the leader in the 30-year increase. The report is published in JAMA Ophthalmology.
Visual impairment not only complicates everyday life, but also reduces work capacity, leading to increased poverty rates. According to the World Health Organization, at least 2.2 billion people worldwide suffer from visual impairment - from simple visual acuity impairment to total blindness. However, data on the global prevalence of these disorders among working-age people remain patchy.
Yingting Zhu and colleagues from Sun Yat-sen Zhongshan University investigated the global prevalence of visual impairment in the working-age population and its trends from 1990 to 2019. Visual impairment was defined as visual acuity less than 0.3. Among able-bodied individuals, 437539484 cases of visual impairment were reported in 2019, an increase of 91.46 percent from 1990 (228530964 cases). The increase in incidence was seen in all age groups, with the highest increase (114.38 percent) in the 45 to 49 year old group and the lowest (17.43 percent) in the 15 to 19 year old group. In 2019, the incidence of visual impairment was higher in females. Global number of disability-adjusted life years that is attributable to visual impairment by 65.27 percent to 12563276.
South Asia had the highest number of visual impairment cases in 2019 (160978294) and Australasia had the lowest (428401). Eastern Europe had the highest increase in incidence. Among 204 countries, India had the highest number of visual impairment cases among working-age individuals in 2019 (132016555), but Nepal had the highest age-standardized incidence rate of 26008.45 per 100000 population. Over a 30-year period, the leader in the increase of this rate was Russia.
These data can help both international medical organizations and national ministries of health to develop prevention programs for visual impairment.
However, it is not always the case that studies of the global burden of disease show dismal results. For example, we recently told you that hepatitis B deaths were down seven percent compared to 2015.