Research
Five-Year Incidence of Bilateral Cause-Specific Visual Impairment in the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project
Undercorrected refractive error was the primary cause of new cases of visual impairment in this population.
Age-related macular degeneration is the primary cause of severe or profound vision loss in Australia.
SUMMARY
This study was designed to describe the age-, gender-, and cause-specific 5-year incidence of bilateral visual impairment in participants in the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project, Victoria, Australia.
Participants aged 40 years and older were recruited from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, by random cluster sampling. The mean age of the 3271 (83% of the eligible) participants was 59 ± 12 (SD) years. Of the participants, 54% were female.
Undercorrected refractive error was the primary cause of new cases of visual impairment in this population. Study authors stated that further research is needed to understand the origin of this and to develop appropriate prevention measures. Age-related macular degeneration is the primary cause of severe or profound vision loss in Australia. This disease requires further investigation for effective cure and preventive strategies. The complete study also details additional visual impairment causes within the sample population and frequency.