Prevalence of blindness and visual impairment in a population of people with diabetes

Abstract

Results Visual acuity data on 6482 (84.7%) of the 7652 individuals were obtained. Of these, 184 had significant visual impairment (prevalence 2.84%) including 49 who were blind (vision of less than 3/60 in their better eye, prevalence 0.75%); if blindness was defined as vision less than or equal to 6/60, prevalence was 1.13% (n = 73). Details of 3 individuals could not be ascertained. Only 67 were registered, either as partially sighted (n = 42) or as blind (n = 25). In the maj ority (n = 133; 68%) of these 181 individuals the visual impairment was due to causes other than diabetic retinopathy.Conclusions The prevalence of blindness and visual impairment in our population of people with diabetes was low. Non-diabetic eye disease accounted for the maj ority of this visual impairment. This provides essential baseline data against which future progress can be assessed. Screening and treatment can greatly reduce the incidence of visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy, but its impact on overall visual impairment rates in the population of people with diabetes will be more modest.

Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in diabetic patients in Tunisia, North Africa

“…11,12 Review of the literature shows that in Europe, the prevalence of blindness ranged from 1.1 to 7.5%. [13][14][15][16] In North African and the Middle East countries, the rate of blindness ranges between 5 and 15.7%. [7][8][9][10] In our study, 17.6% of patients had partial sight.…”

“…4 Numerous studies on the patterns of DR in various geographic regions have been published, showing similarities and distinct differences in the epidemiologic profile. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Data about the prevalence of visual impairment in diabetic population in North African region are scarce. The aim of our study was to identify prevalence and causes of blindness and partial sight in diabetic patients in a referral center in Tunisia, North Africa.…”

United Kingdom National Ophthalmology Database Study: Diabetic Retinopathy; Report 1: prevalence of centre-involving diabetic macular oedema and other grades of maculopathy and retinopathy in hospital eye services

“…28 For the UK, the prevalence of any grade of DR in the Caucasian diabetic population has been estimated to be between 17% and 41%, and between 1% and 8% for PDR. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Another UK study reported DR prevalence to be 36% among white Europeans versus 45% among South Asians. 36 Worldwide, the prevalence of any grade of DR (among people with diabetes aged 20-79 years) has been estimated to be 35%, and that of PDR to be 7%.…”

“…PDR prevalence was around 20% and CSMO prevalence was around 18%, compared with 1-8% and 6%, respectively, in the population. [29][30][31][32][33][34][35] It is also difficult to make international comparisons for hospital DR prevalence data, as each country's health system has a different approach to thresholds for referral; hence, the proportion of patients with diabetes managed by the HES will be different from the proportion managed via primary care. The proportions of patients with DR managed by the UK HES should in theory be more consistent, as national screening programmes have been implemented to invite the whole UK population of patients with diabetes for screening and to refer to the HES only those with potentially sight-threatening retinopathy.…”

The incidence of visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy in Leeds

“…This in turn is dependent on demographic factors such as age and ethnic distribution in the community. [17][18][19][20] It is well documented that the ethnic distribution is especially important as the prevalence of DM in middle-aged Asians is five times that of a European population. 21 The ethnic distribution in Leeds is very similar to England and Wales; however, within the UK there is a large inter-regional variation.…”