June 8, 2016
Based on the most recent census data from studies funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, the number of people with visual impairment or blindness in the U.S. is expected to double to more than 8 million by 2050. Additionally, another 16.4 million Americas are expected to have difficulty seeing due to myopia or hyperopia.
The researchers led by Rohit Varma, M.D., director of the University of Southern California’s Roski Eye Institute in Los Angeles published their analysis May 19 in JAMA Ophthalmology. They estimated that 1 million Americans were legally blind in 2015 and 3.2 million Americans had visual impairment meaning they had 20/40 or worse vision with the best possible correction. Another 8.2 million had vision problems due to uncorrected refractive error.
“These findings are an important forewarning of the magnitude of vision loss to come. They suggest that there is a huge opportunity for screening efforts to identify people with correctable vision problems and early signs of eye diseases,” says NEI Director Paul A. Sieving, MD, PhD. “Early detection and intervention, possibly as simple as prescribing corrective lenses, could go a long way toward preventing a significant proportion of avoidable vision loss.
Over the next 35 years, Varma and his colleagues project that the number of people with legal blindness will increase by 21 percent each decade to 2 million by 2050. The greatest burden of visual impairment and blindness will affect those 80 years or older since advanced age is a key risk factor for diseases like age-related macular degeneration and cataract.
In terms of absolute numbers, non-Hispanic whites, particularly white women, represent the largest proportion of people affected by visual impairment and blindness, and their numbers will nearly double.
African Americans currently account for the second highest proportion of visual impairment, but that is expected to shift to Hispanics around 2040 as the Hispanic population and particularly the number of older Hispanics continues to grow.
Additionally, African Americans are expected to continue to account for the second highest proportion of blindness.
For more information about how to keep eyes healthy, visit https://nei.nih.gov/hvm.
