Ophthalmology (Eye & Ear Hospital) - Theses

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Visual impairment in Melbourne: prevalence and socio-economic risk factors

Livingston, Patricia M. ( 1996)

It was hypothesised that many factors such income, education level or ethnicity influence both the prevalence of visual impairment and the ability of an individual who develops visual impairment to use rehabilitation services. In addition, the community's current understanding or their knowledge of the major causes of vision loss in the elderly, as well as their attitudes towards blindness prevention and treatment, influences their use of eye services or self-care practices. Knowledge gained from this research provides important information on the improvement of the delivery and accessibility of eye services in Victoria. The investigation also provides details to health professionals in the development of appropriate educational and health promotion materials for people who are at risk of developing visual impairment. A total of 44 (1.34%) people were classified as visually impaired; of these 18 (40%) had visual acuity <6/18, 21 (48%) had visual field constriction to within 20° of fixation, and 5 (12%) people had a combination of visual acuity loss and visual field constriction to within 20° of fixation. Age-related macular degeneration (29%), glaucoma (I6%) and cataract (11 %) were major causes of visual impairment. Based on these data, an estimated 105,000 adults, aged 40 years of age and older, in Australia are visually impaired.