April 2014
Volume 55, Issue 13
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   April 2014
Prevalence of Visual Impairment and Blindness in Chinese American Adults: The Chinese-American Eye Study
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • Chunyi Hsu
    University of Illinois at Chicago, Los Angeles, CA
  • Jeniffer S Kim
    University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • Shaung Wu
    University of Illinois at Chicago, Los Angeles, CA
  • Mina Torres
    University of Illinois at Chicago, Los Angeles, CA
  • Roberta McKean-Cowdin
    University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • Stanley Paul Azen
    University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
  • Rohit Varma
    University of Illinois at Chicago, Los Angeles, CA
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships Chunyi Hsu, None; Jeniffer Kim, None; Shaung Wu, None; Mina Torres, None; Roberta McKean-Cowdin, None; Stanley Azen, None; Rohit Varma, None
  • Footnotes
    Support None
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science April 2014, Vol.55, 6084. doi:
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      Chunyi Hsu, Jeniffer S Kim, Shaung Wu, Mina Torres, Roberta McKean-Cowdin, Stanley Paul Azen, Rohit Varma, Chinese American Eye Study; Prevalence of Visual Impairment and Blindness in Chinese American Adults: The Chinese-American Eye Study. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2014;55(13):6084.

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      © ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)

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Abstract

Purpose: To determine the age- and gender- specific prevalence of visual impairment and blindness in Chinese-Americans 50 years and older.

Methods: A total of 4582 participants underwent ophthalmologic exams at the local clinic site with complete measurements for presenting and best-corrected distance visual acuity (VA) using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study charts. Age- and gender- specific prevalence of visual impairment and blindness were calculated using chi-square procedures.

Results: The overall prevalence of visual Impairment for presenting binocular (VA 20-40 or worse, including 20/40) was 10.4%. The overall prevalence for visual impairment (best-corrected VA of ≤ 20/40 in the better eye) was 4.1% (n=186); ranging from 0.8% (50-59 years) to 25.8% (≥ 80 years). Visual impairment increased with age (p-trend<0.0001). The overall prevalence of blindness (best-corrected VA of ≤20/200 in the better eye) was 0.2% (n=10). Blindness increased with older age in the better seeing eye from 50-59 years to 70-79 years and in the worse seeing eye across all age ranges (p-trend<0.01).

Conclusions: Rates of visual impairment and blindness are high in older participants. When comparing our results with other Chinese eye studies, rates of visual impairment and blindness vary from country to country within the Chinese population. When comparing our results with other eye studies in the United States, rates of visual impairment in CHES is similar to the rates in The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study and The Beaver Dam Eye Study.

Keywords: 584 low vision • 754 visual acuity  
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