Visual Impairment among the Middle-Aged and Elderly Population in Chin-Shan Township, Taipei County

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the status and causes of visual impairment in middle-aged (40 to 65 years old)and elderly(＞65 years old)people in Taiwan. Materials and Methods: A total of 3901 residents of Chin-Shan Township, Taipei County, in 1992 and 2817 residents in 1994 received visual acuity and autorefractor examinations. If visual acuity was less than 20/50, further ocular examinations were performed. A total of 1210 subjects in 1992 and 884 subjects in 1994 received a complete ophthalmological exam, including slit-lamp examination, intraocular pressure, cycloplegic refraction, funduscopy examination, and biometric exial length. Results: The most frequent cause of low vision (corrected visual acuity between 20/50 and 20/200) for the middle-aged and aged population was cataract (70%) and related diseases. The second most frequent cause was retinopathy (15%). Corneal diseases, glaucoma and other factors comprised the remaining 15% of cases. Cataract was also the main cause of blindness (corrected visual acuity less than 20/200) in the middle-aged and aged population (60%). Retinopathy (20%) was the second most frequent cause of blindness in both groups. Conclusions: Cataract was the most frequent cause of visual impairment and retinopathy was the second most frequent cause for the middle-aged and aged population of Chin-Shan Xiang, Taipei County, in 1992 and 1994.