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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- About half of the United States population of adults, age 20 and older, suffer from refractive errors -- eye problems that result in less than perfect vision.
Refractive errors include nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, all non-disease related eye problems. These types of vision malfunctions account for close to 80 percent of all vision impairments in the U.S. in patients 12 years of age and older. Refractive errors are a result of the eye not being able to properly focus light.
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Researchers at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, M.d., collected and examined data from surveys given to over 12,000 participants between 1999 and 2004. Half of the people surveyed reported some type of refractive error in their vision. More specifically, 3.6 percent were farsighted, 33.1 percent were nearsighted and 36.2 percent had astigmatism.
The data also showed nearsightedness is more common in women than in men among 20 to 39 year olds. Individuals 60 and older were more likely to be farsighted or have astigmatism than younger participants. Mexican-Americans had less refractive errors than non-Hispanic whites and non-Hispanic blacks.
Age proved to be an important factor. The prevalence of all refractive errors increased from 46.3 percent in participants age 20 to 39, to 50.6 percent among those age 40 through 59, and 62.7 percent in the 60 and older age group.
Providing eye care to people in the U.S., age 12 and older, who need glasses or contact lenses, is estimated to cost between $3.8 billion and $7.2 billion per year.
SOURCE: Archives of Ophthalmology, 2008;126:1111-1119
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