Abstract
Purpose:
To estimate the prevalence and number of people vision impaired or blind due to age-related (AMD) and other macular degenerations (MD)
Methods:
Based on the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 and an ongoing literature search, we estimated how many people were affected by moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60) due to MD. Change between 1990 and 2010 was calculated.
Results:
In 2010, out of a total of 32.4 million blind and 191 million vision impaired, 2.1 million (95% uncertainty intervals (UI): 1.9, 2.7) people were blind, and 6.0 million (UI: 5.2, 8.1) million were visually impaired due to macular degeneration. MD caused worldwide 6.6% (UI: 6.0, 7.9) of all blindness in 2010 and 3.1% (UI: 2.7, 4.0) of all MSVI. These proportions were lower in regions with younger populations (<3% in South Asia) than in high-income regions with relatively old populations (>15%). From 1990 to 2010, the number of people blind or MSVI due to MD increased by 0.6 million people (UI: 0.5, 0.8) or 36% and by 2.7 million (UI: 2.6, 3.9) people or 81%, respectively. Age-standardized global prevalence of MD related blindness in adults aged 50+ years decreased from 0.2% (UI: 0.2, 0.2) in 1990 to 0.1% (UI: 0.1, 0.2) in 2010, and MSVI remained unchanged at 0.4% (UI: 0.3,0.5 in 1990 and UI: 0.4, 0.6 in 2010). The percentage of global blindness and MSVI caused by MD increased from 4.9% (UI: 4.4, 5.8) to 6.6%, and from 1.9% (UI: 1.6, 2.4) to 3.1%, respectively. This increase took place in most world regions, except Western Europe and high-income North America with stable figures. MD caused 7.3% (UI: 6.4, 8.9%) of blindness among women vs. 5.5% (UI: 4.8, 6.8%) of blindness among men. One out 15 people are blind and one out of 32 people with MSVI have vision loss due to MD.
Conclusions:
In 2010 the prevalence of blindness was lower and MSVI stable compared to rates in 1990 but the numbers of people were higher with increases of 36% and 81% for blindness and MSVI respectively. The lower or stable prevalence of MD blindness and MSVI may be due to the therapeutic success of intra-vitreal medications whilst the higher numbers due to the increase in life expectancy over the period. The percentage of blindness and MSVI from MD was higher in high-income regions with relatively older populations.
Keywords: 463 clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence •
412 age-related macular degeneration