Skip to main content

Visual Impairment in White, Chinese, Black, and Hispanic Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Cohort.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Fisher, DE; Shrager, S; Shea, SJ; Burke, GL; Klein, R; Wong, TY; Klein, BE; Cotch, MF
Published in: Ophthalmic Epidemiol
2015

PURPOSE: To describe the prevalence of visual impairment and examine its association with demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) cohort. METHODS: Visual acuity data were obtained from 6134 participants, aged 46-87 years at time of examination between 2002 and 2004 (mean age 64 years, 47.6% male), from six communities in the United States. Visual impairment was defined as presenting visual acuity 20/50 or worse in the better-seeing eye. Risk factors were included in multivariable logistic regression models to determine their impact on visual impairment for men and women in each racial/ethnic group. RESULTS: Among all participants, 6.6% (n = 421) had visual impairment, including 5.6% of men (n = 178) and 7.5% of women (n = 243). Prevalence of impairment ranged from 4.2% (n = 52) and 6.0% (n = 77) in white men and women, respectively, to 7.6% (n = 37) and 11.6% (n = 44) in Chinese men and women, respectively. Older age was significantly associated with visual impairment in both men and women, particularly in those with lower socioeconomic status, but the effects of increasing age were more pronounced in men. Two-thirds of participants already wore distance correction, and not unexpectedly, a lower prevalence of visual impairment was seen in this group; however, 2.4% of men and 3.5% of women with current distance correction had correctable visual impairment, most notably among seniors. CONCLUSION: Even in the U.S. where prevalence of refractive correction is high, both visual impairment and uncorrected refractive error represent current public health challenges.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Ophthalmic Epidemiol

DOI

EISSN

1744-5086

Publication Date

2015

Volume

22

Issue

5

Start / End Page

321 / 332

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • White People
  • Visually Impaired Persons
  • Visual Acuity
  • Vision, Low
  • United States
  • Social Class
  • Risk Factors
  • Refractive Errors
  • Prospective Studies
  • Prevalence
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Fisher, D. E., Shrager, S., Shea, S. J., Burke, G. L., Klein, R., Wong, T. Y., … Cotch, M. F. (2015). Visual Impairment in White, Chinese, Black, and Hispanic Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Cohort. Ophthalmic Epidemiol, 22(5), 321–332. https://doi.org/10.3109/09286586.2015.1066395
Fisher, Diana E., Sandi Shrager, Steven J. Shea, Gregory L. Burke, Ronald Klein, Tien Y. Wong, Barbara E. Klein, and Mary Frances Cotch. “Visual Impairment in White, Chinese, Black, and Hispanic Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Cohort.Ophthalmic Epidemiol 22, no. 5 (2015): 321–32. https://doi.org/10.3109/09286586.2015.1066395.
Fisher DE, Shrager S, Shea SJ, Burke GL, Klein R, Wong TY, et al. Visual Impairment in White, Chinese, Black, and Hispanic Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Cohort. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2015;22(5):321–32.
Fisher, Diana E., et al. “Visual Impairment in White, Chinese, Black, and Hispanic Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Cohort.Ophthalmic Epidemiol, vol. 22, no. 5, 2015, pp. 321–32. Pubmed, doi:10.3109/09286586.2015.1066395.
Fisher DE, Shrager S, Shea SJ, Burke GL, Klein R, Wong TY, Klein BE, Cotch MF. Visual Impairment in White, Chinese, Black, and Hispanic Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Cohort. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2015;22(5):321–332.

Published In

Ophthalmic Epidemiol

DOI

EISSN

1744-5086

Publication Date

2015

Volume

22

Issue

5

Start / End Page

321 / 332

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • White People
  • Visually Impaired Persons
  • Visual Acuity
  • Vision, Low
  • United States
  • Social Class
  • Risk Factors
  • Refractive Errors
  • Prospective Studies
  • Prevalence