Original articlePrevalence and Causes of Low Vision and Blindness in a Rural Southwest Island of Japan: The Kumejima Study
Section snippets
Study Population
The prevalences of low vision and blindness were examined as part of a population-based epidemiologic survey of ocular diseases in all residents of Kumejima Island 40 years of age or older. This small (area, 63 km2) rural island in southwest Japan is 100 km west of Naha City, Okinawa, 1600 km southwest of Tokyo, and 600 km north of Taipei City, Taiwan. The weather is warm and humid, with average daily temperatures of 22.7° C and a total yearly rainfall of 2138 mm. The population-based survey
Results
Of the 4632 eligible residents, 3762 (81.2%) underwent the screening examination. The mean age±standard deviation of the 3762 participants was older than that of the 870 nonparticipants (61.8±14.0 and 59.1±14.9 years, respectively; P<0.001, unpaired t test), and there was a higher percentage of women among the participants (male-to-female ratio, 1833:1929 vs. 555:315; P<0.001, chi-square test). Among the 3762 screened subjects, 168 did not undergo a reliable VA examination at 5 m because they
Discussion
The current study reports for the first time population-based data on the prevalence and causes of visual impairment in an adult population in a rural region in Japan. The prevalence of bilateral visual impairment (low vision plus blindness) was 0.97% according to the WHO criteria. In Japan, a population-based study (the Tajimi Study) conducted in an urban suburb reported a considerably lower prevalence of visual impairment (0.47%).4 Based on those results, the authors estimated that 340 000
References (41)
- et al.
The prevalence of primary open-angle glaucoma in Japanese: the Tajimi Study
Ophthalmology
(2004) - et al.
The Tajimi Study report 2: prevalence of primary angle closure and secondary glaucoma in a Japanese population
Ophthalmology
(2005) - et al.
Visual impairment in Australia: distance visual acuity, near vision, and visual field findings of the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project
Am J Ophthalmol
(1997) - et al.
Prevalence and risk indicators of visual impairment and blindness in Latinos: the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study
Ophthalmology
(2004) - et al.
Prevalence of visual impairment among adults in China: the Beijing Eye Study
Am J Ophthalmol
(2006) - et al.
Causes of blindness, low vision, and questionnaire-assessed poor visual function in Singaporean Chinese adults: the Tanjong Pagar Survey
Ophthalmology
(2004) - et al.
Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in the Barbados Eye Study
Ophthalmology
(2001) - et al.
Blindness and vision impairment in a rural south Indian population: the Aravind Comprehensive Eye Survey
Ophthalmology
(2003) - et al.
Causes of blindness and visual impairment in a population-based sample of U.S. Hispanics
Ophthalmology
(2002) - et al.
Causes of low vision and blindness in adult Latinos: the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study
Ophthalmology
(2006)
A survey of blindness and cataract surgery in Doumen County, China
Ophthalmology
A population-based eye survey of older adults in a rural district of Rajasthan: ICentral vision impairment, blindness, and cataract surgery
Ophthalmology
Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in an elderly Chinese population in Taiwan: the Shihpai Eye Study
Ophthalmology
Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in rural Myanmar: the Meiktila Eye Study
Ophthalmology
Visual acuity and the causes of visual loss in Australia: the Blue Mountains Eye Study
Ophthalmology
Cause-specific prevalence of bilateral visual impairment in Victoria, Australia: the Visual Impairment Project
Ophthalmology
The prevalence and causes of visual impairment in central Sri Lanka: the Kandy Eye study
Ophthalmology
2002 global update of available data on visual impairment: a compilation of population-based prevalence studies
Ophthalmic Epidemiol
Global data on visual impairment in the year 2002
Bull World Health Organ
Prevalence and causes of low vision and blindness in a rural Chinese adult population: the Handan Eye Study
Ophthalmology
Cited by (42)
Prevalence and causes of vision impairment in elderly Chinese people living in suburban Shanghai
2024, Asia-Pacific Journal of OphthalmologyClinical and epidemiological characterization of visually impaired patients due to neuro-ophthalmologic alterations
2022, Neurology PerspectivesCitation Excerpt :Optic atrophy was the main neuro-ophthalmologic diagnosis, which is similar to Dineen et al study.27 In others researches, optic atrophy was described as an important cause of visual impairment, which allows inferring that optic atrophy would be one of the main neuro-ophthalmologic determinants of visual deficiency.28–32 In children under 18 years of age, blindness was the most prevalent in this population, with optic atrophy being the main cause; in contrast to our findings, there are 2 studies that even though also found that blindness was the main visual impairment in children, the prevalence of the causes of blindness in these studies, was first cortical blindness and then optic nerve atrophy (Blindness 4%, optic atrophy 1.5%; blindness 31.5%, optic atrophy 16.5%).33,34
Differentiating Diagnosed and Undiagnosed Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma and Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Population-Based Study
2022, Ophthalmology GlaucomaCitation Excerpt :Previous studies reported several factors as significantly more likely to be seen in patients with undiagnosed (undetected and untreated) rather than diagnosed POAG, that is, those reporting no problems with eyesight21; those with the absence of recent visits to an eye care provider, especially an ophthalmologist9,14,19; those with lower or higher IOP9,11,14; those with hyperopia14 or no myopia9; male patients15; those with smaller vC/D15,16,19; those with intereye IOP asymmetry13; those with unilateral involvement10,16; those with less glaucomatous damage,12,16 and those visiting non-ophthalmologist eye care provider.12 Although PACG is more likely to cause blindness than POAG1,8 and the prevalence rate of PACG is higher in Asia than in other areas of the world,2,4,6,7 a paucity of information is available on contributing factors that can aid in differentiating diagnosed (detected) from undiagnosed (undetected) PACG. This is probably and partly because the prevalence rates of PACG in various ethnic groups are much lower than those of POAG,2,7 and thus, it would be relatively difficult for an individual population-based study to have sufficient numbers of patients with diagnosed and undiagnosed PACG to carry out statistical analyses.
Patterns and Risk Factor Profiles of Visual Loss in a Multiethnic Asian Population: The Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases Study
2019, American Journal of OphthalmologyCitation Excerpt :Most previous Asian studies in the past 2 decades have understandably been focused on rural regions and communities (Supplementary Table 1). In fact, only a handful of studies from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan30–32,37 have evaluated the trends of visual loss in urban regions. Hence, there remains currently a significant underrepresentation of Asian studies from urban communities.
Prevalence, causes, and impact of self-reported vision impairment among older people in China: Findings from the China health and retirement longitudinal study
2023, British Journal of Visual ImpairmentPrevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness in Lao People's Democratic Republic: the Vientiane Eye Study
2023, British Journal of Ophthalmology
Manuscript no. 2009-1273.
Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.
Supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan, Tokyo, Japan (no.: H18-Sensory-General-001); a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan (grant no.: (C) 17591845); and a fund from the Japan National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, Tokyo, Japan.