Eye Care Disparities and Health-Related Consequences in Elderly Patients with Age-Related Eye Disease

ABSTRACT

The elderly population in the United States (age 65 and older) is growing rapidly, estimated by the U.S. Census Department to reach 83.7 million by 2050.¹ Visual impairment increases with age among all racial and ethnic groups.² In the elderly, the most common culprits for vision loss are cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).² In the developed world, vision loss from cataract has been dramatically reduced by increased access to cataract surgery. However, AMD and glaucoma lead to irreversible vision loss without early diagnosis and intervention. In the U.S., cases of AMD are expected to double by 2050, reaching 17.8 million among patients age 50 or older.³ Similarly, cases of glaucoma are expected to reach 5.5 million by 2050, an increase of over 90% from 2014.³ The visually impaired elderly face disparities in access to eye care, and subsequent general medical and psychosocial complications.

Keywords:

• Age-related macular degeneration
• cataracts
• elderly
• eye disease
• glaucoma
• health-care disparities

FUNDING

The authors acknowledge funding from NEI grant EY22618 (MAB), the BrightFocus Foundation (MAB) and an unrestricted departmental award from Research to Prevent Blindness.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge funding from NEI grant EY22618 (MAB), the BrightFocus Foundation (MAB) and an unrestricted departmental award from Research to Prevent Blindness.