eprintid: 10046103 rev_number: 45 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/04/61/03 datestamp: 2018-04-06 15:20:05 lastmod: 2021-12-20 23:45:22 status_changed: 2018-04-06 15:20:05 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Delcourt, C creators_name: Le Goff, M creators_name: von Hanno, T creators_name: Mirshahi, A creators_name: Khawaja, AP creators_name: Verhoeven, VJM creators_name: Hogg, RE creators_name: Anastosopoulos, E creators_name: Cachulo, ML creators_name: Höhn, R creators_name: Wolfram, C creators_name: Bron, A creators_name: Miotto, S creators_name: Carrière, I creators_name: Colijn, JM creators_name: Buitendijk, GHS creators_name: Evans, J creators_name: Nitsch, D creators_name: Founti, P creators_name: Yip, JLY creators_name: Pfeiffer, N creators_name: Creuzot-Garcher, C creators_name: Silva, R creators_name: Piermarocchi, S creators_name: Topouzis, F creators_name: Bertelsen, G creators_name: Foster, PJ creators_name: Fletcher, A creators_name: Klaver, CCW creators_name: Korobelnik, J-F creators_name: European Eye Epidemiology Consortium, . title: The Decreasing Prevalence of Nonrefractive Visual Impairment in Older Europeans: A Meta-analysis of Published and Unpublished Data ispublished: pub subjects: MOOR divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C07 divisions: D08 divisions: D12 divisions: G19 divisions: D13 divisions: G25 note: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. abstract: TOPIC: To estimate the prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment and blindness in European persons 55 years of age and older. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Few visual impairment and blindness prevalence estimates are available for the European population. In addition, many of the data collected in European population-based studies currently are unpublished and have not been included in previous estimates. METHODS: Fourteen European population-based studies participating in the European Eye Epidemiology Consortium (n = 70 723) were included. Each study provided nonrefractive visual impairment and blindness prevalence estimates stratified by age (10-year strata) and gender. Nonrefractive visual impairment and blindness were defined as best-corrected visual acuity worse than 20/60 and 20/400 in the better eye, respectively. Using random effects meta-analysis, prevalence rates were estimated according to age, gender, geographical area, and period (1991-2006 and 2007-2012). Because no data were available for Central and Eastern Europe, population projections for numbers of affected people were estimated using Eurostat population estimates for European high-income countries in 2000 and 2010. RESULTS: The age-standardized prevalence of nonrefractive visual impairment in people 55 years of age or older decreased from 2.22% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.34-3.10) from 1991 through 2006 to 0.92% (95% CI, 0.42-1.42) from 2007 through 2012. It strongly increased with age in both periods (up to 15.69% and 4.39% in participants 85 years of age or older from 1991 through 2006 and from 2007 through 2012, respectively). Age-standardized prevalence of visual impairment tended to be higher in women than men from 1991 through 2006 (2.67% vs. 1.88%), but not from 2007 through 2012 (0.87% vs. 0.88%). No differences were observed between northern, western, and southern regions of Europe. The projected numbers of affected older inhabitants in European high-income countries decreased from 2.5 million affected individuals in 2000 to 1.2 million in 2010. Of those, 584 000 were blind in 2000, in comparison with 170 000 who were blind in 2010. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the increase in the European older population, our study indicated that the number of visually impaired people has decreased in European high-income countries in the last 20 years. This may be the result of major improvements in eye care and prevention, the decreasing prevalence of eye diseases, or both. date: 2018-08 date_type: published official_url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.02.005 oa_status: green full_text_type: other language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1544247 doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.02.005 pii: S0161-6420(17)32612-X lyricists_name: Bobak, Martin lyricists_name: Foster, Paul lyricists_name: Khawaja, Anthony lyricists_name: Rahi, Jugnoo lyricists_id: MBOBA10 lyricists_id: PJFOS52 lyricists_id: APKHA37 lyricists_id: JSRAH74 actors_name: Khawaja, Anthony actors_id: APKHA37 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Ophthalmology volume: 125 number: 8 pagerange: 1149-1159 event_location: United States issn: 1549-4713 citation: Delcourt, C; Le Goff, M; von Hanno, T; Mirshahi, A; Khawaja, AP; Verhoeven, VJM; Hogg, RE; ... European Eye Epidemiology Consortium, .; + view all <#> Delcourt, C; Le Goff, M; von Hanno, T; Mirshahi, A; Khawaja, AP; Verhoeven, VJM; Hogg, RE; Anastosopoulos, E; Cachulo, ML; Höhn, R; Wolfram, C; Bron, A; Miotto, S; Carrière, I; Colijn, JM; Buitendijk, GHS; Evans, J; Nitsch, D; Founti, P; Yip, JLY; Pfeiffer, N; Creuzot-Garcher, C; Silva, R; Piermarocchi, S; Topouzis, F; Bertelsen, G; Foster, PJ; Fletcher, A; Klaver, CCW; Korobelnik, J-F; European Eye Epidemiology Consortium, .; - view fewer <#> (2018) The Decreasing Prevalence of Nonrefractive Visual Impairment in Older Europeans: A Meta-analysis of Published and Unpublished Data. Ophthalmology , 125 (8) pp. 1149-1159. 10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.02.005 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2018.02.005>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10046103/1/E3-Vision-manuscript-Ophthalmology-accepted.pdf document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10046103/6/E3-vision-SOM-accepted.pdf