Change in Viual Acuity in a Population Over a 15-year Period: The Beaver Dam Eye tudy Original Reearch Article

Purpoe To decribe the change in viual acuity in a 15-year period. Deign Population-baed tudy. Method etting: Beaver Dam, Wiconin. participant: 4068 peron 43 to 86 year of age at the time of a baeline examination in 1988 to 1990, and with follow-up examination every five year thereafter. obervation procedure: Bet-corrected viual acuity after refraction, aeed by a modification of the ETDR protocol. main outcome meaure: Doubling of the viual angle; incidence of viual impairment. Reult Eight percent of the population developed impaired viion (20/40 or wore), 0.8% developed evere viual impairment (20/200 or wore), 7% had doubling of the viual angle, and 2% had improved viion. People 75 year of age or older at baeline were more likely to develop impaired viion (odd ratio [OR] 12.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 9.6 to 17.1, P < .001), doubling of the viual angle (OR 7.8, 95% CI 5.6 to 10.7, P < .001), and evere viual impairment (OR 20.6, 95% CI 9.5 to 44.8, P<0.001) compared with people younger than 75 year of age. Concluion Thee data provide population-baed etimate of the cumulative 15-year incidence of lo of viion over a wide pectrum of age. In people 75 year of age or older the cumulative incidence of viual impairment accounting for the competing rik of death i 25%, of which 4% i evere, indicating a public health problem of coniderable proportion a the U population in thi age i expected to increae by 55% from 18 million in the year 2005 to 28 million by the year 2025.