Prevalence of visual impairment and eye diseases in Arkansas.

ABSTRACT

Visual impairment and eye diseases are major public health concerns of the 21st century, particularly as our population ages. The prevalence of these conditions has not been described in Arkansas. We analyzed the vision module of the Arkansas behavioral risk factor surveillance system to estimate the burden due to these disabling conditions. The prevalence of glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and cataract among Arkansans > 40 years was found to be 5.5% (95% CI, 4.7 - 6.3), 5.3% (95% CI, 4.5 - 6.0), and 13.7% (95% CI, 12.6 - 14.8), respectively. Vision related quality of life was also studied. Public health strategies to reduce the burden due to visual impairment and eye diseases are the need of the hour.