Research
Racial Disparities in Uncorrected and Undercorrected Refractive Error in the United States
The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for inadequately corrected refractive error in the United States.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 12,758 participants aged 12 years and older.
The refractive error was present and corrected with refraction in 50% of the participants.
The correctable refractive error was inadequately corrected in 11.7% of the participants.
Risk factors linked with inadequate refractive correction in adults but not in teenagers included low annual household income, low education, and lack of health insurance.
Racial differences in refractive error correction were most obvious in those under 20 years, and in adults with low annual household income, low education, and lack of health insurance.