Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study; the GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators

doi:10.1038/s41433-024-03106-0

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study
, the GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators

Ulster University
Queen's University Belfast
ORBIS International
Sun Yat-Sen University
Brien Holden Vision Institute
UNSW Medicine
University of New South Wales
King's College London
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Nova Southeastern University
University of KwaZulu-Natal
Australian College of Optometry
University of Melbourne
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Federal University of Sao Paulo
University of Calgary
Vita-Salute San Raffaele University
San Raffaele Hospital
Université de Poitiers
CHU de Poitiers
School of Medicine - ARU
University of Oxford
Ufa Eye Research Institute
Dijon Bourgogne University Hospital
National University of Singapore
Singapore Eye Research Institute
Kellogg Eye Center
University of Michigan
National Eye Institute
Harvard Medical School
University of São Paulo
University College London
Medical Research Foundation, Chennai
Stanford University
University of Heidelberg
Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel
Associated Ophthalmologists of Monastir
Myungsung Medical College
Addis Ababa University
Sight for Souls
Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital
LV Prasad Eye Institute
University of Rochester
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
HelpMeSee, Inc.
Miami University
University of Utah
University of Social Sciences, Lodz
John Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
University of Crete Medical School
Beijing Tongren Hospital
NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
University of Ibadan

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

6 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: 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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2083-2101
Number of pages	19
Journal	Eye
Volume	38
Issue number	11
Early online date	4 Jul 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03106-0
Publication status	Published - Aug 2024

Bibliographical note

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

Funding

This study was funded by Brien Holden Vision Institute, Foundation Thea, Fred Hollows Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), Sightsavers International, and University of Heidelberg.

Funders	Funder number
University of Heidelberg
Sightsavers International
Fred Hollows Foundation
Lions Clubs International Foundation
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ophthalmology
Sensory Systems

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Fagbamigbe2024VoRFinal published version, 1.08 MBLicence: CC BY

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Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020. / Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study; the GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators.
In: Eye, Vol. 38, No. 11, 08.2024, p. 2083-2101.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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title = "Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020",

abstract = "Background: 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.",

author = "\{Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study\} and \{the GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators\} and Little, \{Julie Anne\} and Congdon, \{Nathan G.\} and Serge Resnikoff and Tasanee Braithwaite and Janet Leasher and Naidoo, \{Kovin S.\} and Timothy Fricke and Ian Tapply and Fernandes, \{Arthur G.\} and Cicinelli, \{Maria Vittoria\} and Alessandro Arrigo and Nicolas Leveziel and Taylor, \{Hugh R.\} and Tabassom Sedighi and Seth Flaxman and Parodi, \{Maurizio Battaglia\} and Bikbov, \{Mukkharram M.\} and Alain Bron and Cheng, \{Ching Yu\} and \{Del Monte\}, \{Monte A.\} and Ehrlich, \{Joshua R.\} and Ellwein, \{Leon B.\} and David Friedman and Furtado, \{Jo{\~a}o M.\} and Gus Gazzard and Ronnie George and Hartnett, \{M. Elizabeth\} and Jonas, \{Jost B.\} and Rim Kahloun and Kempen, \{John H.\} and Moncef Khairallah and Khanna, \{Rohit C.\} and Kim, \{Judy E.\} and Lansingh, \{Van Charles\} and Vinay Nangia and Michal Nowak and Konrad Pesudovs and Tunde Peto and Pradeep Ramulu and Fotis Topouzis and Mitiadis Tsilimbaris and Wang, \{Ya Xing\} and Ningli Wang and Bourne, \{Rupert R.A.\} and Little, \{Julie Anne\} and Congdon, \{Nathan G.\} and Tasanee Braithwaite and Naidoo, \{Kovin S.\} and Nina Tahhan and Fagbamigbe, \{Adeniyi Francis\}",

note = "This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article{\textquoteright}s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article{\textquoteright}s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. ",

year = "2024",

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doi = "10.1038/s41433-024-03106-0",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

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T1 - Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error

T2 - a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

AU - Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study

AU - the GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators

AU - Little, Julie Anne

AU - Congdon, Nathan G.

AU - Resnikoff, Serge

AU - Braithwaite, Tasanee

AU - Leasher, Janet

AU - Naidoo, Kovin S.

AU - Fricke, Timothy

AU - Tapply, Ian

AU - Fernandes, Arthur G.

AU - Cicinelli, Maria Vittoria

AU - Arrigo, Alessandro

AU - Leveziel, Nicolas

AU - Taylor, Hugh R.

AU - Sedighi, Tabassom

AU - Flaxman, Seth

AU - Parodi, Maurizio Battaglia

AU - Bikbov, Mukkharram M.

AU - Bron, Alain

AU - Cheng, Ching Yu

AU - Del Monte, Monte A.

AU - Ehrlich, Joshua R.

AU - Ellwein, Leon B.

AU - Friedman, David

AU - Furtado, João M.

AU - Gazzard, Gus

AU - George, Ronnie

AU - Hartnett, M. Elizabeth

AU - Jonas, Jost B.

AU - Kahloun, Rim

AU - Kempen, John H.

AU - Khairallah, Moncef

AU - Khanna, Rohit C.

AU - Kim, Judy E.

AU - Lansingh, Van Charles

AU - Nangia, Vinay

AU - Nowak, Michal

AU - Pesudovs, Konrad

AU - Peto, Tunde

AU - Ramulu, Pradeep

AU - Topouzis, Fotis

AU - Tsilimbaris, Mitiadis

AU - Wang, Ya Xing

AU - Wang, Ningli

AU - Bourne, Rupert R.A.

AU - Little, Julie Anne

AU - Congdon, Nathan G.

AU - Braithwaite, Tasanee

AU - Naidoo, Kovin S.

AU - Tahhan, Nina

AU - Fagbamigbe, Adeniyi Francis

N1 - This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.

PY - 2024/8

Y1 - 2024/8

N2 - Background: 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.

AB - Background: 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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DO - 10.1038/s41433-024-03106-0

M3 - Article

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JO - Eye

JF - Eye

IS - 11

ER -

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by Uncorrected Refractive Error: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

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