311 research outputs found
Publisher Correction: Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020
No full textFully disaggregated data is not available publicly due to data sharing agreements with some principal investigators yet requests for summary data can be made to the corresponding author.” Furthermore, the information in the “Funding” section was incomplete. The following information was added: “This study was funded by Brien Holden Vision Institute, Fondation Thea, Fred Hollows Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), Sightsavers International, and University of Heidelberg.” The “Competing interests” section has been corrected from “The authors declare no competing interests” to the following detailed information: GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators Declarations N S Bayileyegn reports participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board with Jimma University, and leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, paid or unpaid with Jimma University as a discipline committee member; outside the submitted work. S Bhaskar reports grants or contracts from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), JSPS International Fellowship, Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Australian Academy of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI); leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, paid or unpaid with Rotary District 9675 as the District Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the Global Health & Migration Hub Community and the Global Health Hub Germany (Berlin, Germany) as the Chair and Manager; PLOS One, BMC Neurology, Frontiers In Neurology, Frontiers in Stroke, Frontiers in Public Health and BMC Medical Research Methodology as an Editorial Board Member; and with the College of Reviewers, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Government of Canada as a Member; outside the submitted work. X Dai reports support for the present manuscript from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the University of Washington. M Cenderadewi reports grants or contracts from James Cook University (International Research Training Program Scholarship for doctoral study), and support for attending meetings and travel from James Cook University; all outside the submitted work. M Foschi reports consulting fees from Roche; payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Sanofi, Merck, and Novartis; support for attending meetings and travel from Novartis and Roche; leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, paid or unpaid with MSBase as a scientific leadership board member, and Cochrane Review Group for Multiple Sclerosis and other rate diseases of the CNS as a member; all outside the submitted work. F Ghassemi reports support for the present manuscript from medical writing. B N G Goulart reports stock or stock options with Bristo Myers-Squibb and Pfizer; outside the submitted work. V B Gupta reports grants or contracts from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC); outside the submitted work. S Hallaj reports support for the present manuscript from the National Institute of Health, Bridge to AI common fund (grant number: OT2 OD032644). I M Ilic reports support for the present manuscript from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological development, Republic of Serbia (project No 175042, 2011-2023). S Islam reports support for the present manuscript from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant and the Heart Foundation Vanguard Grant. J H Kempen reports support for the present manuscript from Sight for Souls and Mass Eye and Ear Global Surgery Program; and leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, paid or unpaid with Sight for Souls as the President. K Krishan reports other non-financial support from the UGC Centre of Advanced Study, CAS II, awarded to the Department of Anthropology, Panjab University (Chandigarh, India); outside the submitted work. O P Kurmi reports grants or contracts from the British Council India paid to Coventry University; outside the submitted work. V C Lansingh reports consulting fees from HelpMeSee, and financial support for attending meetings and travel from HelpMeSee; outside the submitted work. J L Leasher leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, unpaid with the National Eye Institute as a member and the National Eye Health Education Program as a planning committee member; outside the submitted work. M Lee reports support for the present manuscript from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea, and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2021R1I1A4A01057428) and Bio-convergence Technology Education Program through the Korea Institute for Advancement Technology (KIAT) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (No. P0017805). C McAlinden reports grants or contracts from the Welsh Government on the following study: Feasibility of an alternative pathway for hospital referrals from Diabetic Eye Screening Wales (DESW) for people suspected with sight-threatening diabetic eye disease (diabetic maculopathy). No funds will be received from the author’s institution or personally related to this study. Any work conducted as part of this study is as an unpaid collaborator; consulting fees from Acufocus (Irvine, California, USA), Atia Vision (Campbell, California, USA), Bausch and Lomb (Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA), BVI / PhysIOL (Liège, Belgium), Coopervision (Pleasanton, California, USA), Cutting Edge (Labége, France), Fudan University (Fudan, China), Hoya (Frankfurt, Germany), Knowledge Gate Group (Copenhagen, Denmark), Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision (Santa Ana, California, USA), Keio University (Tokyo, Japan), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (München, Germany), Medevise Consulting SAS (Strasbourg, France), Novartis (Basel, Switzerland), Ophtec BV (Groningen, The Netherlands), Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou, China), SightGlass vision (Menlo Park, California, USA), Science in Vision (Bend, Oregan, USA), SpyGlass (Aliso Viejo, California, USA), Targomed GmbH (Bruchsal, Germany), University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil), and Vold Vision (Arkansas, USA); payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events from Scope (Crawley, UK), Bausch and Lomb (Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA), and Thea pharmaceuticals (Clemont-Ferrand, France); support for attending meetings and/or travel from Royal College of Ophthalmologists (London, UK), Scope (Crawley, UK), Portuguese Society of Ophthalmology (Portugal), British Society of Refractive surgery (BSRS), Thea pharmaceuticals (Clemont-Ferrand, France), Bausch and Lomb (Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA); leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, paid or unpaid with the British Society of Refractive Surgery (BSRS) as an unpaid council member, and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (London, UK) as an unpaid PROM advisor; other financial interests from the Quality of Vision (QoV) Questionnaire tool, the Orthokeratology and Contact Lens Quality of Life Questionnaire (OCL-QoL), and paid peer reviews for Research Square; outside of the submitted work. Finally, the section “Author Contributions” has been added and an Appendix with more detailed information for individual author contributions has been included in the form of electronic supplementary material. The original article has been corrected
Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by age-related macular degeneration: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020
No full textBackground: We aimed to update estimates of global vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye diseases from January, 1980, to October, 2018. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate the prevalence of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity from <6/18 to 3/60) and blindness (< 3/60) caused by AMD, stratified by age, region, and year. Results: In 2020, 1.85 million (95%UI: 1.35 to 2.43 million) people were estimated to be blind due to AMD, and another 6.23 million (95%UI: 5.04 to 7.58) with MSVI globally. High-income countries had the highest number of individuals with AMD-related blindness (0.60 million people; 0.46 to 0.77). The crude prevalence of AMD-related blindness in 2020 (among those aged ≥ 50 years) was 0.10% (0.07 to 0.12) globally, and the region with the highest prevalence of AMD-related blindness was North Africa/Middle East (0.22%; 0.16 to 0.30). Age-standardized prevalence (using the GBD 2019 data) of AMD-related MSVI in people aged ≥ 50 years in 2020 was 0.34% (0.27 to 0.41) globally, and the region with the highest prevalence of AMD-related MSVI was also North Africa/Middle East (0.55%; 0.44 to 0.68). From 2000 to 2020, the estimated crude prevalence of AMD-related blindness decreased globally by 19.29%, while the prevalence of MSVI increased by 10.08%. Conclusions: The estimated increase in the number of individuals with AMD-related blindness and MSVI globally urges the creation of novel treatment modalities and the expansion of rehabilitation services
Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020
No full textBackground: Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a readily treatable cause of visual impairment (VI). This study provides updated estimates of global and regional vision loss due to URE, presenting temporal change for VISION 2020 Methods: Data from population-based eye disease surveys from 1980–2018 were collected. Hierarchical models estimated prevalence (95% uncertainty intervals [UI]) of blindness (presenting visual acuity (VA) < 3/60) and moderate-to-severe vision impairment (MSVI; 3/60 ≤ presenting VA < 6/18) caused by URE, stratified by age, sex, region, and year. Near VI prevalence from uncorrected presbyopia was defined as presenting near VA < N6/N8 at 40 cm when best-corrected distance (VA ≥ 6/12). Results: In 2020, 3.7 million people (95%UI 3.10–4.29) were blind and 157 million (140–176) had MSVI due to URE, a 21.8% increase in blindness and 72.0% increase in MSVI since 2000. Age-standardised prevalence of URE blindness and MSVI decreased by 30.5% (30.7–30.3) and 2.4% (2.6–2.2) respectively during this time. In 2020, South Asia GBD super-region had the highest 50+ years age-standardised URE blindness (0.33% (0.26–0.40%)) and MSVI (10.3% (8.82–12.10%)) rates. The age-standardized ratio of women to men for URE blindness was 1.05:1.00 in 2020 and 1.03:1.00 in 2000. An estimated 419 million (295–562) people 50+ had near VI from uncorrected presbyopia, a +75.3% (74.6–76.0) increase from 2000 Conclusions: The number of cases of VI from URE substantively grew, even as age-standardised prevalence fell, since 2000, with a continued disproportionate burden by region and sex. Global population ageing will increase this burden, highlighting urgent need for novel approaches to refractive service delivery
Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020
No full textBackground: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population. Results: In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%). Conclusions: The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery
Trends in prevalence of blindness and distance and near vision impairment over 30 years: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study
No full textBackground:
To contribute to the WHO initiative, VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, an assessment of global vision impairment in 2020 and temporal change is needed. We aimed to extensively update estimates of global vision loss burden, presenting estimates for 2020, temporal change over three decades between 1990–2020, and forecasts for 2050.
Methods:
We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye disease from January, 1980, to October, 2018. Only studies with samples representative of the population and with clearly defined visual acuity testing protocols were included. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate 2020 prevalence (with 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) of mild vision impairment (presenting visual acuity ≥6/18 and <6/12), moderate and severe vision impairment (<6/18 to 3/60), and blindness (<3/60 or less than 10° visual field around central fixation); and vision impairment from uncorrected presbyopia (presenting near vision <N6 or <N8 at 40 cm where best-corrected distance visual acuity is ≥6/12). We forecast estimates of vision loss up to 2050.
Findings:
In 2020, an estimated 43·3 million (95% UI 37·6–48·4) people were blind, of whom 23·9 million (55%; 20·8–26·8) were estimated to be female. We estimated 295 million (267–325) people to have moderate and severe vision impairment, of whom 163 million (55%; 147–179) were female; 258 million (233–285) to have mild vision impairment, of whom 142 million (55%; 128–157) were female; and 510 million (371–667) to have visual impairment from uncorrected presbyopia, of whom 280 million (55%; 205–365) were female. Globally, between 1990 and 2020, among adults aged 50 years or older, age-standardised prevalence of blindness decreased by 28·5% (–29·4 to −27·7) and prevalence of mild vision impairment decreased slightly (–0·3%, −0·8 to −0·2), whereas prevalence of moderate and severe vision impairment increased slightly (2·5%, 1·9 to 3·2; insufficient data were available to calculate this statistic for vision impairment from uncorrected presbyopia). In this period, the number of people who were blind increased by 50·6% (47·8 to 53·4) and the number with moderate and severe vision impairment increased by 91·7% (87·6 to 95·8). By 2050, we predict 61·0 million (52·9 to 69·3) people will be blind, 474 million (428 to 518) will have moderate and severe vision impairment, 360 million (322 to 400) will have mild vision impairment, and 866 million (629 to 1150) will have uncorrected presbyopia.
Interpretation:
Age-adjusted prevalence of blindness has reduced over the past three decades, yet due to population growth, progress is not keeping pace with needs. We face enormous challenges in avoiding vision impairment as the global population grows and ages.
Funding:
Brien Holden Vision Institute, Fondation Thea, Fred Hollows Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation, Sightsavers International, and University of Heidelberg
Awareness and use of assistive technology among older adults with vision impairments in the Midwestern United States
No full textPlan BOlder adults with vision impairments make up more than 18% of the population of the United States (Boswell, 2000; Braille Institute, 2000). If these trends continue an estimated 13 million older adults are likely to be affected by a visual impairment or blindness in the next 20 to 30 years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2002) and the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics (2000), there are significantly higher proportions of older adults in certain states around the country. States with the highest numbers of older adults who experience a visual impairment are centered within the Midwestern region of the United States (National Eye Institute, 2002). Older adults who are visually impaired find it increasingly difficult to perform daily living activities and remaining independent. The use of assistive technology may play a significant role in the lives of older adults who are visually impaired or blind. Current research however, indicates that most older adults with disabilities, including those with vision loss are unaware of the availability of devices to improve their independent functioning (Russell, 1997; Campell, 1999; Gitlin, 2002). At the same time, studies suggest that maintaining independence is one of greatest concerns among older adults (Mack, 1997). Additionally, research has shown that older adults with vision impairments have a 15% higher probability of being admitted to a nursing home than other older adults (Moore, 1994). There is a need to examine the level of awareness and use of adaptive devices among older adults who are visually impaired or blind, and of the possible effects assistive technology may have on their quality of life. The current study examined the level of awareness and frequency of use of assistive technology devices among older persons with visual impairments in the Midwestern United States. Awareness and use of assistive technology was measured among 113 adults more than 55 years of age who were identified as experiencing a visual impairment, and who resided in the three states of Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Information was gathered through the use of a survey designed by the primary researcher for this study. Additional areas of information gathered by the researcher included demographic information, medical and health issues, safety, timeliness of services, and available funding sources. Results suggest that older adults with visual impairments were not aware of assistive technology that is available to enhance general activities of daily living. Magnifiers and Close Circuit Televisions (CCTV) were the most commonly used forms of assistive technology among participants in the survey, which corresponds to the reported limitations of reading and writing. While no statistically significant findings were found, there were some important trends to consider. Overall, participants in the study were not concerned with safety or general medical and health needs. At the same time, a large number of survey respondents indicated that they had at least one disabling condition in addition to their visual loss. Many had two or more additional disabling conditions. Deafness and cardiovascular disease were found to be the top two secondary health conditions. Perhaps the most distressing results related to the lack of available funding to support assistive technology purchases. The vast majority (87.6%) of respondents choose “self-pay” as their primary funding source for assistive technology. Results suggest the need for increased education about available technology to enhance daily living skills as well as identification of funding sources to support technology for older adults with visual impairments
Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study
No full textBackground:
Many causes of vision impairment can be prevented or treated. With an ageing global population, the demands for eye health services are increasing. We estimated the prevalence and relative contribution of avoidable causes of blindness and vision impairment globally from 1990 to 2020. We aimed to compare the results with the World Health Assembly Global Action Plan (WHA GAP) target of a 25% global reduction from 2010 to 2019 in avoidable vision impairment, defined as cataract and undercorrected refractive error.
Methods:
We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye disease from January, 1980, to October, 2018. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate prevalence (with 95% uncertainty intervals [UIs]) of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity from <6/18 to 3/60) and blindness (<3/60 or less than 10° visual field around central fixation) by cause, age, region, and year. Because of data sparsity at younger ages, our analysis focused on adults aged 50 years and older.
Findings:
Global crude prevalence of avoidable vision impairment and blindness in adults aged 50 years and older did not change between 2010 and 2019 (percentage change −0·2% [95% UI −1·5 to 1·0]; 2019 prevalence 9·58 cases per 1000 people [95% IU 8·51 to 10·8], 2010 prevalence 96·0 cases per 1000 people [86·0 to 107·0]). Age-standardised prevalence of avoidable blindness decreased by −15·4% [–16·8 to −14·3], while avoidable MSVI showed no change (0·5% [–0·8 to 1·6]). However, the number of cases increased for both avoidable blindness (10·8% [8·9 to 12·4]) and MSVI (31·5% [30·0 to 33·1]). The leading global causes of blindness in those aged 50 years and older in 2020 were cataract (15·2 million cases [9% IU 12·7–18·0]), followed by glaucoma (3·6 million cases [2·8–4·4]), undercorrected refractive error (2·3 million cases [1·8–2·8]), age-related macular degeneration (1·8 million cases [1·3–2·4]), and diabetic retinopathy (0·86 million cases [0·59–1·23]). Leading causes of MSVI were undercorrected refractive error (86·1 million cases [74·2–101·0]) and cataract (78·8 million cases [67·2–91·4]).
Interpretation:
Results suggest eye care services contributed to the observed reduction of age-standardised rates of avoidable blindness but not of MSVI, and that the target in an ageing global population was not reached.
Funding:
Brien Holden Vision Institute, Fondation Théa, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation, Sightsavers International, and University of Heidelberg
Publisher Correction: Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020 (Eye, (2024), 10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1)
No full textCorrection to: Eyehttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1, published online 09 March 2024 The original online version of this article was revised. First of all, the author list has been corrected from “Konrad Pesudovs, Van Charles Lansingh, John H. Kempen, Ian Tapply, Arthur G. Fernandes, Maria V. Cicinelli, Alessandro Arrigo, Nicolas Leveziel, Paul Svitil Briant, Theo Vos, Serge Resnikoff, Hugh R. Taylor, Tabassom Sedighi, Seth Flaxman, Jaimie Steinmetz, Rupert R. A. Bourne, Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study and the GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators” to include only the following institutional authors “Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study and the GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators”. The list of the individual authors and affiliations now appear at the end of the original paper. Furthermore, the following Article Note has been added: “These authors contributed equally: Jaimie Steinmetz and Rupert R. A. Bourne. These authors share the last authorship: Seth Flaxman and Jaimie Steinmetz.” The title of Table 1 has been corrected from “Number of people (mean [95% UI]) with blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60) or MSVI (presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) due to Cataract, the age-standardized prevalence (%) in people of all ages and aged ≥50 years (mean [95% UI]), and the percentage of all blindness or MSVI attributed to Cataract (95% UI) in world regions in 2020” to “Number of people of all ages (mean [95% UI]) with blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60) or MSVI (presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) due to Cataract, the age-standardized prevalence (%) in people aged ≥50 years (mean [95% UI]), and the percentage of all blindness or MSVI attributed to Cataract in people aged ≥50 years (95% UI) in world regions in 2020”. The following Data Availability statement was added: “Data sources for the Global Vision Database are listed at the following weblink http://www.anglia.ac.uk/verigbd. Fully disaggregated data is not available publicly due to data sharing agreements with some principal investigators yet requests for summary data can be made to the corresponding author.” Furthermore, the information in the “Funding” section was incomplete. The following information was added: “This study was funded by Brien Holden Vision Institute, Fondation Thea, Fred Hollows Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), Sightsavers International, and University of Heidelberg.” The “Competing interests” section has been corrected from “The authors declare no competing interests” to the following detailed information: GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators Declarations N S Bayileyegn reports participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board with Jimma University, and leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, paid or unpaid with Jimma University as a discipline committee member; outside the submitted work. S Bhaskar reports grants or contracts from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), JSPS International Fellowship, Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Australian Academy of Science, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI); leadership or fiduciary roles in board, society, committee or advocacy groups, paid or unpaid with Rotary District 9675 as the District Chair of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the Global Health & Migration Hub Community and the Global Health Hub Germany (Berlin, Germany) as the Chair and Manager; PLOS One, BMC Neurology, Frontiers In Neurology, Frontiers in Stroke, Frontiers in Public Health and BMC Medical Research Methodology as an Editorial Board Member; and with the College of Reviewers, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and the Government of Canada as a Member; outside the submitted work
Designing a visible city for visually impaired users
No full textThis paper reports on an ongoing doctoral research project which aims to identify the main barriers to access within the built environment for persons with a visual impairment. The research seeks to investigate whether these barriers are common for all types of visual impairment and degree of vision loss and if so, what inclusive design solutions can accommodate the needs of the majority of visually impaired users. An access audit has been conducted within Glasgow city centre which sought to quantify the number and type of hazards present within a typical built environment. This was followed up by a questionnaire which asked participants to rate factors which may prevent them from making independent visits to their nearest city centre including psychological factors, physical features and obstructions resulting from the presence of street furniture. Participants also indicated the colours and contrasts which they find easiest to detect within the built environment. These findings will be used to inform the creation of a new set of design guidelines to assist designers, architects and urban planners as to how they can provide more accessible and inclusive environments for the visually impaired population
Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020
No full textBackground: Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a readily treatable cause of visual impairment (VI). This study provides updated estimates of global and regional vision loss due to URE, presenting temporal change for VISION 2020 Methods: Data from population-based eye disease surveys from 1980–2018 were collected. Hierarchical models estimated prevalence (95% uncertainty intervals [UI]) of blindness (presenting visual acuity (VA) < 3/60) and moderate-to-severe vision impairment (MSVI; 3/60 ≤ presenting VA < 6/18) caused by URE, stratified by age, sex, region, and year. Near VI prevalence from uncorrected presbyopia was defined as presenting near VA < N6/N8 at 40 cm when best-corrected distance (VA ≥ 6/12). Results: In 2020, 3.7 million people (95%UI 3.10–4.29) were blind and 157 million (140–176) had MSVI due to URE, a 21.8% increase in blindness and 72.0% increase in MSVI since 2000. Age-standardised prevalence of URE blindness and MSVI decreased by 30.5% (30.7–30.3) and 2.4% (2.6–2.2) respectively during this time. In 2020, South Asia GBD super-region had the highest 50+ years age-standardised URE blindness (0.33% (0.26–0.40%)) and MSVI (10.3% (8.82–12.10%)) rates. The age-standardized ratio of women to men for URE blindness was 1.05:1.00 in 2020 and 1.03:1.00 in 2000. An estimated 419 million (295–562) people 50+ had near VI from uncorrected presbyopia, a +75.3% (74.6–76.0) increase from 2000 Conclusions: The number of cases of VI from URE substantively grew, even as age-standardised prevalence fell, since 2000, with a continued disproportionate burden by region and sex. Global population ageing will increase this burden, highlighting urgent need for novel approaches to refractive service delivery
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