Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2017 Jun 1;135(6):610-616.
doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2017.1021.

Visual Impairment in Preschool Children in the United States: Demographic and Geographic Variations From 2015 to 2060

Rohit Varma  1 , Kristina Tarczy-Hornoch  2 , Xuejuan Jiang  1
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Visual Impairment in Preschool Children in the United States: Demographic and Geographic Variations From 2015 to 2060

Rohit Varma et al. JAMA Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Importance: Visual impairment (VI) in early childhood can significantly impair development.

Objective: To determine demographic and geographic variations in VI in children aged 3 to 5 years in the United States in 2015 and to estimate projected prevalence through 2060.

Design, setting, and participants: Descriptive study reporting statistics estimated based on prevalence data from 2 major population-based studies conducted in the United States between 2003 and 2011. Using US census projections, prevalence of VI and cause-specific VI in the better eye were reported by race/ethnicity, state and region, and per capita prevalence of VI by state. The study included preschool children in the United States. Analyses for this study were conducted between February 2016 and March 2017.

Main outcomes and measures: Prevalence of VI among children aged 3 to 5 years in the United States.

Results: In 2015, more than 174 000 children aged 3 to 5 years in the United States were visually impaired. Almost 121 000 of these cases (69%) arose from simple uncorrected refractive error, and 43 000 (25%) from bilateral amblyopia. By 2060, the number of children aged 3 to 5 years with VI is projected to increase by 26%. In 2015, Hispanic white children accounted for the highest number of VI cases (66 000); this group will remain the most affected through 2060, with an increasingly large proportion of cases (37.7% in 2015 and 43.6% in 2060). The racial/ethnic group with the second most VI is projected to shift from non-Hispanic white children (26.3% in 2015 decreasing to 16.5% in 2060) to African American children (24.5% in 2015 and 22.0% in 2060). From 2015 to 2060, the states projected to have the most children with VI are California (26 600 in 2015 and 38 000 in 2060), Texas (21 500 in 2015 and 29 100 in 2060), and Florida (10 900 in 2015 and 13 900 in 2060).

Conclusions and relevance: These data suggest that the number of preschool children with VI is projected to increase disproportionally, especially among minority populations. Vision screening for refractive error and related eye diseases may prevent a high proportion of preschool children from experiencing unnecessary VI and associated developmental delays.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest and none were reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Projected Number of Children Aged 36 to 72 Months With Visual Impairment From All Causes in the United States by Race/Ethnicity and Year
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Per Capita Prevalence of Visual Impairment in the United States in 2015
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Per Capita Prevalence of Visual Impairment in the United States in 2060
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Atkinson J, Anker S, Nardini M, et al. Infant vision screening predicts failures on motor and cognitive tests up to school age. Strabismus. 2002;10(3):187-198. - PubMed
    1. Ibironke JO, Friedman DS, Repka MX, et al. Child development and refractive errors in preschool children. Optom Vis Sci. 2011;88(2):181-187. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Roch-Levecq AC, Brody BL, Thomas RG, Brown SI. Ametropia, preschoolers’ cognitive abilities, and effects of spectacle correction. Arch Ophthalmol. 2008;126(2):252-258. - PubMed
    1. Menon V, Saha J, Tandon R, Mehta M, Khokhar S. Study of the psychosocial aspects of strabismus. J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2002;39(4):203-208. - PubMed
    1. Kulp MT, Ciner E, Maguire M, et al. ; VIP-HIP Study Group . Uncorrected hyperopia and preschool early literacy: results of the Vision in Preschoolers-Hyperopia in Preschoolers (VIP-HIP) Study. Ophthalmology. 2016;123(4):681-689. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types