Examination-Based Studies

Print

Table of Contents

  1. ›1. Introduction
  2. 2. List of Abbreviations
  3. 3. Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  4. 4. Diabetic Retinopathy
  5. 5. Glaucoma
  6. 6. Uncorrected Refractive Error
  7. 7. Cataract
  8. 8. Vision Impairment and Blindness
  9. 9. Retinopathy of Prematurity
  10. 10. Methods
Related Pages

Examination-based population studies provide high-quality exams to small, defined patient populations.  These studies provide the gold-standard data for examining and assessing total population prevalence. In contrast, claims and registry systems exclude patients who do not access clinical services as well as those who are undiagnosed. Examination-based estimates represent one of four types of data included in VEHSS.

VEHSS conducted a review of the published literature to identify existing measures of prevalence of vision loss, uncorrected refractive error (URE), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), glaucoma, cataract, and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Demographic variables, study populations, condition definitions, and inclusion of condition types and stages varied widely among studies. The pages below summarize existing published prevalence estimates organized by data source. Many studies are not directly comparable because of differences in study design or population. This review makes no attempt to harmonize or directly compare estimates among studies.

American Academy of Ophthalmology. Age-related macular degeneration preferred practice pattern. https://www.aao.org/preferred-practice-pattern/age-related-macular-degeneration-ppp. Accessed June 11, 2018.

American Optometric Association. Glossary of Common Eye & Vision Conditions website. https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions. Accessed June 7, 2018.

Bressler SB, Munoz B, Solomon SD, West SK. Racial Differences in the Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The Salisbury Eye Evaluation (SEE) Project. Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126(2):241–245.

Broman AT, Hafiz G, Munoz B, et al. Cataract and barriers to cataract surgery in a US Hispanic population: proyecto VER. Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(9):1231–1236.

Butt AL, Lee ET, Klein R, et al. Prevalence and Risks Factors of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Oklahoma Indians: The Vision Keepers Study. Ophthalmology. 2011;118(7):1380–1385.

Cassard SD, Quigley HA, Gower EW, Friedman DS, Ramulu PY, Jampel HD. Regional variations and trends in the prevalence of diagnosed glaucoma in the Medicare population. Ophthalmology. 2012;119(7):1342–1351.

Chou CF, Cotch MF, Vitale S, et al. Age-related eye diseases and visual impairment among U.S. adults. Am J Prev Med. 2013;45(1):29–35.

Congdon N, Vingerling JR, Klein BE, et al. Prevalence of cataract and pseudophakia/aphakia among adults in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122(4):487–494.

Cruickshanks KJ, Hamman RJ, Klein R, Nondahl DM, Shetterly SM. The Prevalence of Age-Related Maculopathy by Geographic Region and Ethnicity. The Colorado-Wisconsin Study of Age-Related Maculopathy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1997;115(2):242–250.

Desai N, Copeland RA. Socioeconomic disparities in cataract surgery. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2013;24(1):74–78.

Dhaliwal DK, Hassanlou M. Overview of Refractive Error website. https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/eye-disorders/refractive-error/overview-of-refractive-error. Accessed June 7, 2018.

Fisher DE, Shrager S, Shea SJ, et al. Visual Impairment in White, Chinese, Black, and Hispanic Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Cohort. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2015;22(5):321–332.

Lions Club International Foundation. Uncorrected Refractive Error website. http://www.lcif.org/EN/our-work/sight/uncorrected-refractive-error.php. Accessed March 23, 2016.

Friedman DS, Jampel HD, Munoz B, West SK. The Prevalence of Open-Angle Glaucoma Among Blacks and Whites 73 years and Older: The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Glaucoma Study. Arch Ophthalmol. 2006;124(11):1625–1630.

Friedman DS, Katz J, Bressler NM, Rahmani B, Tielsch JM. Racial differences in the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration. Ophthalmology. 1999;106:1049–1055.

Friedman DS, O’Colmain BJ, Munoz B, et al. Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122(4):564–572.

Friedman DS, Wolfs RC, O’Colmain BE, et al. Prevalence of open-angle glaucoma among adults in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122(4):532–538.

Good WV, Hardy RJ, Dobson V, et al. The Incidence and Course of Retinopathy of Prematurity: Findings from the Early Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity Study. Pediatrics. 2005;116(1):15–23.

Group, M.-E. P. E. D. S. M. Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment in African-American and Hispanic Preschool Children: The Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Disease Study. Ophthalmology. 2009;116(10):1990–2000:e1991.

Gupta P, Zhao D, Guallar E, Ko F, Boland MV, Friedman DS. Prevalence of Glaucoma in the United States: The 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2016;57(6):2577–2585.

Haronian E, Wheeler NC, Lee DA. Prevalence of eye disorders among the elderly in Los Angeles. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 1993;17(1):25–36.

Harris MI, Klein R, Cowie CC, Rowland M, Byrd-Holt DD. Is the Risk of Diabetic Retinopathy Greater in Non-Hispanic Blacks and Mexican Americans Than in Non-Hispanic Whites with Type 2 Diabetes?: A US Population Study. Diabetes Care. 1998;21(8):1230–1235.

Kempen JH, O’Colmain BJ, Leske MC, et al. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among adults in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122(4):552–563.

Kim E, Varma R. Glaucoma in Latinos/Hispanics. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2010;21(2):100–105.

Klein BE, Klein R, Sponsel WE, et al. Prevalence of Glaucoma. The Beaver Dam Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 1992;99(10):1499–1504.

Klein BEK, Klein R, Linton KLP. Prevalence of Age-related Lens Opacities in a Population. The Beaver Dam Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 1992;99:546–552.

Klein R, Chou CF, Klein BE, Zhang X, Meuer SM, Saaddine. Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration in the US population. Arch Ophthalmol. 2011;129(1):75–80.

Klein R, Clegg L, Cooper LS, et al. Prevalence of Age-Related Maculopathy in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Arch Ophthalmol. 1999;117(9):1203–1210.

Klein R, Cruickshanks KJ, Nash SD, et al. The prevalence of age-related macular degeneration and associated risk factors. Arch Ophthalmol. 2010;128(6):750–758.

Klein R, Davis MD, Magli YL, Segal P, Klein BE, Hubbard L. The Wisconsin age-related maculopathy grading system. Ophthalmology. 1991;98(7):1128–1134.

Klein R, Klein BE, Jensen SC, Mares-Perlman JA, Cruickshanks KJ, Palta M. Age-Related Maculopathy in a Multiracial United States Population: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. Ophthalmology. 1999;106(6):1056–1065.

Klein R, Klein BE, Knudtson MD, et al. Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration in 4 racial/ethnic groups in the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis. Ophthalmology. 2006;113(3):373–380.

Klein R, Klein BE, Moss SE. Epidemiology of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes Care. 1992;15(12):1875–1891.

Klein R, Lee KE, Knudtson MD, Gangon RE, Klein BE. Changes in Visual Impairment Prevalence by Period of Diagnosis of Diabetes: The Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy. Ophthalmology. 2009;116(10):1937–1942.

Klein R, Wang Q, Klein BE, Moss SE, Meuer SM. The relationship of age-related maculopathy, cataract, and glaucoma to visual acuity. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1995;36(1):182–191.

Kodjebacheva G, Brown ER, Estrada L, Yu F, Coleman AL. Uncorrected refractive error among first-grade students of different racial/ethnic groups in southern California: results a year after school-mandated vision screening. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2011;17(6):499–505.

Kovarik JJ, Eller AW, Willard LA, Ding J, Johnston JM, Waxman EL. Prevalence of Undiagnosed Diabetic Retinopathy Among Inpatients with Diabetes: The Diabetic Retinopathy Inpatient Study (DRIPS). BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2016;4(1):e000164.

Lad EM, Nguyen TC, Morton JM, Moshfeghi DM. Retinopathy of prematurity in the United States. Br J Ophthalmol. 2008;92(3):320–325.

Lee PP, Feldman ZW, Ostermann J, Brown DS, Sloan FA. Longitudinal prevalence of major eye diseases. Arch Ophthalmol. 2003;121:1303–1310.

Li Y, Fan AZ, Balluz LS. Visual impairment and age-related eye diseases in Florida: findings from 2006 Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) in nine states. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2009;2:65–71.

Lim A, Stewart J, Chui TY, et al., Prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in a multi-racial underserved population. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2008;15(6):402–409.

Maa AY, Evans C, Delaune W, Lynch MG. Veteran Eye Disease After Eligibility Reform: Prevalence and Characteristics. Mil Med. 2013;178(7):811–815.

Mansberger SL, Romero FC, Smith NH., et al. Causes of visual impairment and common eye problems in Northwest American Indians and Alaska Natives. Am J Public Health. 2005;95(5):881–886.

Munoz B, Klein R, Rodriguez J, Snyder R, West SK. Prevalence of age-related macular degeneration in a population-based sample of Hispanic people in Arizona: proyecto VER. Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(11):1575–1580.

Munoz B, West SK, Rodriguez J, et al. Blindness, visual impairment and the problem of uncorrected refractive error in a Mexican-American population: proyecto VER. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2002;43(3):608–614.

National Eye Institute (NEI). A-Z Diseases and Disorders website. https://nei.nih.gov/health. Accessed March 10, 2016.

Palmer EA, Flynn JT, Hardy RJ, et al. Incidence and early course of retinopathy of prematurity. The Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity Cooperative Group. Ophthalmology. 1991;98(11):1628–1640.

Park DW, Mansberger SL. Eye disease in patients with diabetes screened with telemedicine. Telemed J E Health. 2016;23(2):113–118.

Pedula KL, Coleman AL, Yu F, et al. Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Mortality in Older Women: The Study of Osteoporotic Fractures. J Am Geriat Soc. 2015;63(5):910–917.

Qiu M, Wang SY, Singh K, Lin SC. Racial disparities in uncorrected and undercorrected refractive error in the United States. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014;55(10):6996–7005.

Quigley HA, West SK, Rodriguez J, Munoz B, Klein R, Snyder R. The prevalence of glaucoma in a population-based study of Hispanic subjects: proyecto VER. Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119(12):1819–1826.

Quinn G, e.-R. C. Group. Telemedicine approaches to evaluating acute-phase retinopathy of prematurity: study design. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2014;21(4):256–267.

Quinn GE, Barr C, Bremer D, et al., Changes in course of retinopathy of prematurity from 1986 to 2013: comparison of three studies in the United States.” Ophthalmology. 2016;123(7):1595–1600.

Rahmani B, Tielsch JM, Katz J, et al. The Cause-Specific Prevalence of Visual Impairment in an Urban Population. The Baltimore Eye Survey. Ophthalmology. 1996;103(11):1721–1726.

Richter GM, Chung J, Azen SP, Varma R; G. Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Prevalence of Visually Significant Cataract and Factors Associated with Unmet Need for Cataract Surgery: Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 2009;116(12):2327–2335.

Rodriguez NM, Aguilar S. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in a clinic population from Puerto Rico. Optom Vis Sci. 2016;93(7):750–753.

Roy MS, Klein R, O’Colmain BJ, Klein BE, Moss SE, Kempen JH. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among adult type 1 diabetic persons in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122(4):546–551.

Rubin, GS, West SK, Munoz B, et al. A Comprehensive Assessment of Visual Impairment in a Population of Older Americans: The SEE Study. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1997;38:557–568.

Segre L, Heiting G. Eye Testing – The Eye Chart and 20/20 Vision website. http://www.allaboutvision.com/eye-test/. Accessed June 7, 2018.

Shaikh Y, Yu F, Coleman AL. Burden of undetected and untreated glaucoma in the United States. Am J Ophthalmol. 2014;158(6):1121–1129:e1121.

Tarczy-Hornoch K, Cotter SA, Borchert M, et al. Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment in Asian and Non-Hispanic White Preschool Children: Multi-Ethnic Pediatric Eye Disease Study. Ophthalmology. 2013;120(6):1220–1226.

The Eye Diseases Prevalence Research Group. Causes and prevalence of visual impairment among adults in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122:477–485.

Tielsch JM, Sommer A, Katz J, Royall RM, Quigley HA, Javitt J. Racial Variations in the Prevalence of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma. The Baltimore Eye Study. JAMA. 1991;266(3):369–374.

Uribe JA, Swenor BK, Munoz BE, West SK. Uncorrected refractive error in a Latino population: proyecto VER. Ophthalmology. 2011;118(5):805–811.

Vanderbeek BL, Zacks DN, Talwar N, Nan B, Musch DC, Stein JD. Racial differences in age-related macular degeneration rates in the United States: a longitudinal analysis of a managed care network. Am J Ophthalmol. 2011;152(2):273–282:e273.

Varma R, Choudhury F, Chen S, et al. Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Chinese American Adults: The Chinese American Eye Study. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(5):571–577.

Varma R, Fraser-Bell S, Tan S, Klein R, Azen SP. Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Latinos: The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 2004;111(7):1288–1297.

Varma R, Kim JS, Burkemper BS, et al. Prevalence and Causes of Visual Impairment and Blindness in Chinese American Adults: The Chinese American Eye Study. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(7):785–793.

Varma R, Paz SH, Azen P, et al. The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study: Design, Methods, and Baseline Data. Ophthalmology. 2004;111(6):1121–1131.

Varma R, Torres M. Prevalence of Lens Opacities in Latinos: The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 2004;111(8):1449–1456.

Varma R, Torres M, Pena F, Klein R, Azen SP; L. A. L. E. S. Group. Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy in Adult Latinos: The Los Angeles Latino Eye study. Ophthalmology. 2004;111(7):1298–1306.

Varma R, Wang MY, Ying-Lai M, Donofrio J, Azen SP; G. Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. The Prevalence and Risk Indicators of Uncorrected Refractive Error and Unmet Refractive Need in Latinos: The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2008;49(12):5264–5273.

Varma R, Wen G, Jiang X, et al. Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy in Adult Chinese American Individuals: The Chinese American Eye Study. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(5):563–569.

Varma R, Ying-Lai M, Klein R, Azen SP; G. Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Prevalence and risk indicators of visual impairment and blindness in Latinos: The Los Angeles Latino Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 2004;111(6):1132–1140.

Vitale S, Cotch MF, Sperduto RD. Prevalence of visual impairment in the United States. JAMA. 2006;295(18):2158–2163.

West SK, Klein R, Rodriguez J, et al. Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy in a Mexican-American population. Diabetes Care. 2001;24(7):1204–1209.

Wong TY, Klein R, Islam FM, et al. Diabetic retinopathy in a multi-ethnic cohort in the United States. Am J Ophthalmol. 2006;141(3):446–455.

Wu EW, Schaumberg DA, Park SK. Environmental Cadmium and Lead Exposures and Age-Related Macular Degeneration in U.S. Adults: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005 to 2008. Environ Res. 2014;133:178–184.

Wu L, Fernandez-Loaiza P, Sauma J, et al. Classification of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. World J Diabetes. 2013;4(6):290–294.

Zhang X, Cotch MF, Ryskulova A, et al. Vision health disparities in the United States by race/ethnicity, education, and economic status: findings from two nationally representative surveys. Am J Ophthalmol. 2012;154(6 suppl):S53–S62:e51.

Zhang X, Saaddine JB, Chou CF, et al. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in the United States, 2005-2008. JAMA. 2010;304(6):649–656.