RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Prevalence and causes of vision loss in East Asia: 1990–2010 JF British Journal of Ophthalmology JO Br J Ophthalmol FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. SP 599 OP 604 DO 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2013-304047 VO 98 IS 5 A1 Tien Y Wong A1 Yingfeng Zheng A1 Jost B Jonas A1 Seth R Flaxman A1 Jill Keeffe A1 Janet Leasher A1 Kovin Naidoo A1 Konrad Pesudovs A1 Holly Price A1 Richard A White A1 Serge Resnikoff A1 Hugh R Taylor A1 Rupert R A Bourne A1 on behalf of the Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study YR 2014 UL http://bjo.bmj.com/content/98/5/599.abstract AB Aims To describe the prevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness in East Asia in 1990 and 2010. Method Data from population-based studies conducted from 1980 to 2012 were identified, and eligibility for inclusion was assessed. Data on prevalence of blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60 in the better eye) and moderate to severe visual impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity <6/18 to 3/60 in the better eye) and causes were extracted. Results The age-standardised prevalence of blindness was 0.7% (95% CI 0.6 to 0.9) in 1990 and 0.4% (95% CI 0.3 to 0.5) in 2010, while that of MSVI was 3.6% (95% CI 2.3 to 4.4) and 2.3% (95% CI 1.7 to 2.8), respectively. These prevalence estimates were lower than those of other countries globally. The absolute numbers affected by blindness and MSVI in 2010 were 5.2 million and 33.3 million, respectively, and were higher among women than men. Cataract was the leading cause of blindness, whereas uncorrected refractive error was the leading cause of MSVI. Conclusions There has been a significant reduction in prevalence of blindness in East Asia, but a substantial absolute number of people remain blind and visually impaired, largely caused by cataract and uncorrected refractive error.