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Caring for Patients With Visual Disability

Arch Ophthalmol. 2004;122:1208-1209.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Despite significant advances in the understanding and treatment of ocular diseases over the past decade, the prevalence of severe vision loss throughout Western society as a consequence of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma is increasing.¹ In the United States alone, more than 1 million Americans 40 years and older are legally blind, and an additional 2.4 million Americans are considered visually impaired.² These figures will increase as the number of Americans 40 years and older doubles in the next 30 years.² While ophthalmologists are keenly aware of the effects of ocular diseases on vision, impairment of sight is often the first of many problems that confront our patients following the onset of severe ocular disease.

OTHER EFFECTS OF VISION LOSS

Less apparent to ophthalmologists than loss of sight, however, are the secondary effects of vision loss, which are not primarily ophthalmic in nature. These effects include depression, functional limitations, lower quality of life, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERVENTION
Jon P. Gieser, MD
Wheaton, Ill

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