This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (15)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Cataracts/ Lens  • Macular Degeneration  • Aging/ Geriatrics  • Alert me on articles by topic

The Blue Mountains Eye Study

Arch Ophthalmol. 2002;120:613-619.

Objective  To describe the causes of 5-year incident visual impairment and doubling of the visual angle in a population-based cohort.

Methods  Of the 3654 participants aged older than 50 years who participated in the Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES I, 1992-1994), 543 died and 2335 were reexamined between 1997 and 1999 (BMES II). Visual acuity was measured using a logMAR chart before and after refraction. Pupils were dilated, and a detailed eye examination was performed. For participants with incident visual impairment or doubling of the visual angle, an ophthalmologist attributed and proportioned causes. Primary causes were defined as those responsible for 50% or more of the impairment.

Results  After refractive correction, the proportion of incident bilateral impairment worse than 20/40, worse than 20/70, and worse than 20/200 that were caused primarily by cataract decreased from 51.4% (n = 19) to 40.0% (n = 6) to 0%; while the proportion of cases caused primarily by age-related maculopathy increased from 24.3% (n = 9) to 33.3% (n = 5) to 100.0% (n = 2). Similarly, the corresponding proportions of incident unilateral impairment caused primarily by cataract decreased from 53.7% (n = 72) to 36.9% (n = 31) to 13.6% (n = 6); meanwhile, the proportion of cases caused primarily by age-related maculopathy increased from 19.4% (n = 26) to 32.1% (n = 27) to 54.5% (n = 24). The proportions of persons with incident bilateral impairment worse than 20/40, worse than 20/70, and worse than 20/200 that could be improved with refraction were 79.4% (n = 143), 73.6% (n = 42), and 0%, respectively. The corresponding proportions of incident unilateral impairment improved by refraction were 66.7% (n = 269), 59.0% (n = 121), and 21.4% (n = 12).

Conclusion  This study has documented the 5-year incidence and causes of visual impairment in an older Australian population.

Suriya Foran, MBBS, MPH; Jie Jin Wang, MMed, PhD; Paul Mitchell, MD, PhD
From the Department of Ophthalmology, Centre for Vision Research, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia, and the Save Sight and Westmead Millennium Institutes, the University of Sydney, Sydney.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Nine-Year Refractive Changes in the Barbados Eye Studies
Wu et al.
IOVS 2005;46:4032-4039.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Visual acuity in northern China in an urban and rural population: the Beijing Eye Study
Xu et al.
Br. J. Ophthalmol. 2005;89:1089-1093.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Causes of Incident Visual Field Loss in a General Elderly Population: The Rotterdam Study
Skenduli-Bala et al.
Arch Ophthalmol 2005;123:233-238.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Consequences of amblyopia on education, occupation, and long term vision loss
Chua and Mitchell
Br. J. Ophthalmol. 2004;88:1119-1121.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cost utility of screening and treatment for early age related macular degeneration with zinc and antioxidants
Hopley et al.
Br. J. Ophthalmol. 2004;88:450-454.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT