In a large cohort study, diabetics with macular edema had a 50% prevalence of visual impairment and a 20% prevalence of blindness, compared to 16% and 4% respectively in diabetic patients without macular edema.
A recent comprehensive population-based study conducted in a similar setting, age group and using a similar definition for visual impairment in a normal population in Tehran province showed a 1.67% prevalence of visual impairment [ 40].
Since many people in our population had never held a pen or pencil before, coupled with a high prevalence of visual impairment, it was felt that poor performance may not have been entirely due to cognitive impairment.
Elderly people living in residential care are a vulnerable group and tend to have a higher prevalence of visual impairment compared to the general population as evidenced in studies from developed countries [ 4– 9].
Results showed, as expected, a higher prevalence of visual, hearing, dexterity, cognitive and product interaction difficulties in the 65 80 age group.
There is a high prevalence of visual impairment in marine fishing communities in Prakasam district in India.
Previously, we had reported a high prevalence of visual impairment in this population out of which over 26% was due to uncorrected refractive errors [ 13].
In the Ontario OHS 1996 1997, women with and without diabetes had a higher prevalence of visual problems not corrected by lenses than men.
Although this is a high prevalence of visual impairment it is difficult to interpret as the age structure of the hospital admissions is unlikely to reflect population age structure and the prevalence of visual impairment increases rapidly over the ages of 65 years and above[ 8, 9].
1 Children with neurodevelopmental disorders have an increased prevalence of visual impairments and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists 2 and the UK government National Service Framework for Disabled Children 3 recommend that such children have a routine vision check as part of their multidisciplinary care.
