Eyesight
(asked on 1st July 2014) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people in the UK lost their eyesight in each of the last five years; and what the reasons were for each loss of sight.
Information on the number of people who are registered as blind or partially sighted is published every three years by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The following table gives the information from the 2008 and 2011 reports.
Number of people registered as blind or partially sighted as at 31 March 2008 and 31 March 2011
Year | Blind | Partially Sighted |
2008 | 152,980 | 156,285 |
2011 | 147,810 | 151,010 |
Source:
www.hscic.gov.uk/article/2021/Website-Search?productid=1840&q=Registered+Blind+and+Partially+Sighted+People+england&sort=Relevance&size=10&page=1&area=both#top
The Public Health Outcomes Framework launched in 2012 includes an indicator on preventable sight loss which tracks sight loss due to the three main causes of preventable sight loss including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Data has been published for 2010-11 and 2011-12 and a summary of this data is as follows:
Sight loss Indicators for England per 100,000 population
Indicator | Age | 2010-11 | 2011-12 |
4.12i - Preventable sight loss – age related macular degeneration (AMD) | 65+yrs | 110 | 111 |
4.12ii - Preventable sight loss - glaucoma | 40+yrs | 12 | 13 |
4.12iii - Preventable sight loss - diabetic eye disease | 12+yrs | 4 | 4 |
4.12iv - Preventable sight loss - sight loss certifications | All ages | 43 | 44 |
Source:
www.phoutcomes.info/public-health-outcomes-framework#gid/1000044/pat/6/ati/102/page/9/par/E12000007/are/E09000002
Definitions of sight loss indicators
Indicator 1
4.12i - Crude rate of sight loss due to age related macular degeneration (AMD) in those aged 65+ per 100,000 populations.
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI) due to age related macular degeneration (AMD) aged 65+, rate per 100,000 populations. The numerator counts for this indicator includes sight loss due to AMD as the main cause or if no main cause as a contributory cause.
Indicator 2
4.12ii - Crude rate of sight loss due to glaucoma in those aged 40+ per 100,000 population.
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI) due to glaucoma aged 40+, rate per 100,000 population. The numerator counts for this indicator includes sight loss due to glaucoma as the main cause or if no main cause as a contributory cause.
Indicator 3
4 .12iii - Crude rate of sight loss due to diabetic eye disease in those aged 12+ per 100,000 population
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI) due to diabetic eye disease aged 12+, rate per 100,000 population. The numerator counts for this indicator includes sight loss due to diabetic eye disease as the main cause or if no main cause as a contributory cause. (These are not counts of diabetics with visual impairments due to any cause)
Indicator 4
4.12iv - Crude rate of sight loss certifications per 100,000 population
Definition
New Certifications of Visual Impairment (CVI), rate per 100,000 population. The indicator relates completions of CVI (all causes - preventable and non-preventable) by a consultant ophthalmologist; this initiates the process of registration with a local authority and leads to access to services.
Rationale
The indicators relate to one of the three main eye diseases, which can result in blindness or partial sight if not diagnosed and treated in time. These are age related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Source: www.phoutcomes.info/public-health-outcomes-framework#gid/1000044/pat/6/ati/102/page/6/par/E12000007/are/E09000002