Blind People - Epidemiology

Epidemiology

The WHO estimates that in 2002 there were 161 million visually impaired people in the world (about 2.6% of the total population). Of this number 124 million (about 2%) had low vision and 37 million (about 0.6%) were blind. In order of frequency the leading causes were cataract, uncorrected refractive errors (near sighted, far sighted, or an astigmatism), glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration. In 1987, it was estimated that 598,000 people in the United States met the legal definition of blindness. Of this number, 58% were over the age of 65. In 1994-1995, 1.3 million Americans reported legal blindness.