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Observational Study
. 2022 Jan 6;12(1):e053805.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053805.

Time trends, associations and prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma: an analysis of observational data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Yi Sun  1 , Aiming Chen  2 , Minjie Zou  3 , Yichi Zhang  4 , Ling Jin  3 , Yi Li  5 , Danying Zheng  6 , Guangming Jin  6 , Nathan Congdon  3   7   8
Affiliations
Observational Study

Time trends, associations and prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma: an analysis of observational data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Yi Sun et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: To estimate global prevalence of blindness and vision loss caused by glaucoma, and to evaluate the impact of socioeconomic factors on it.

Design: A population-based observational study.

Setting: The prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 database. The Human Development Index (HDI), inequality-adjusted HDI and other socioeconomic data were acquired from international open databases.

Main outcome measures: The prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma by age, gender, subregion and Socio-Demographic Index (SDI) levels. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to explore the associations between the prevalence and socioeconomic indicators.

Results: The overall age-standardised prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma worldwide was 81.5 per 100 000 in 1990 and 75.6 per 100 000 in 2017. In 2017, men had a higher age-standardised prevalence than women (6.07% vs 5.42%), and the worldwide prevalence increased with age, from 0.5 per 100 000 in the 45-49 year age group to 112.9 per 100 000 among those 70+. Eastern Mediterranean and African regions had the highest prevalence during the whole period, while the Americas region had the lowest prevalence. The prevalence was highest in low-SDI and low-income regions while lowest in high-SDI and high-income regions over the past 27 years. Multiple linear regression showed cataract surgery rate (β=-0.01, p=0.009), refractive error prevalence (β=-0.03, p=0.024) and expected years of schooling (β= -8.33, p=0.035) were associated with lower prevalence, while gross national income per capita (β=0.002, p<0.001) was associated with higher prevalence.

Conclusions: Lower socioeconomic levels and worse access to eyecare services are associated with higher prevalence of glaucoma-related blindness and vision loss. These findings provide evidence for policy-makers that investments in these areas may reduce the burden of the leading cause of irreversible blindness.

Keywords: epidemiology; glaucoma; public health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Global map of the prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma from 1990 to 2017. (A) Age-standardised prevalence of cases per 100 000 in 2017. (B) Annual percentage change in the prevalence.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma by age and gender in 2017.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The age-standardised prevalence of blindness and vision loss due to glaucoma by region (A) and income level (B) and SDI level (C). SDI, Socio-Demographic Index.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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