A comparison of low vision clinic data with low vision survey and blindness registration information.

PURPOSE: To determine whether low vision demographic data provided by low vision clinic data are comparable to that provided by blindness registration and disability questionnaire information. METHODS: Low vision demographic data for Canada and Ontario within the postcensus Health and Activity Limitation Survey (HALS 1991) were obtained from Statistics Canada. These data were compared with 4744 reports of low vision examinations obtained in a multi-center low vision clinic study in Ontario, Canada (1991-1994) and appropriate annual figures from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). RESULTS: Data from the low vision clinic study and the CNIB were similar. The low vision clinic study (and CNIB) reported far fewer adults (15 to 64 years) and far more seniors (65+ years) obtaining low vision examinations than suggested by HALS. CONCLUSIONS: HALS does not report on patients with low vision, as defined in low vision clinics. The differences between survey, low vision clinic, and blindness registration data are presented.

Demographic characteristics of the vision-disabled elderly.

PURPOSE: To profile certain demographic features of the low-vision population in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: Sixty-six optometrists or optometry centers, 8 ophthalmologists, and 23 Canadian National Institute for the Blind rehabilitation worker teams were recruited to the study. They were required to report on their low-vision examinations during a 3-year period. RESULTS: Reports from 4744 low-vision examinations were received. Of the patients examined, 71% were over age 65 (subsequently called seniors or elderly), and 55% were over age 75. Ninety percent of all the patients lived in households and 10% lived in institutions. Seniors made up 71% of the patients living in households and 88% of the patients living in institutions. Most of the seniors were women (65%), and 57% had functional limitations in addition to low vision, most commonly limitations in mobility, hearing, or agility. Age-related maculopathy was the primary diagnosis in 75% of seniors, and the most common secondary diagnosis was cataract (46%). The main objective for most elderly low-vision patients was to gain improvement in personal reading (75%). CONCLUSIONS: The vast majority of low-vision patients were elderly, the largest number being 75 to 84 years old. When older senior low-vision patients (> or = 85 years) were compared with younger seniors (65 to 74 years), the older seniors were more likely to be women, more likely to have additional functional limitations, more likely to live in an institution, and more likely to have age-related maculopathy and cataract. Whether some elderly low-vision patients may be helped by cataract surgery needs to be determined.