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Cataracts
are the leading cause of visual impairment in U.S. Hispanics,
according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
University of Wisconsin in Madison and University of Arizona.
The incidence
of blindness in U.S. Hispanics is now 0.3 percent, a figure
considered high for developed countries, the researchers reported
in the journal Ophthalmology.
Cataracts
were found to be the leading cause of visual impairment in
Hispanics, followed by age-related macular degeneration and
diabetic retinopathy. Open-angle glaucoma, a condition that
only affects women, was the fourth most common cause of visual
impairment.
Age-related
macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in
U.S. Caucasians.
The study
included data on the vision problems of 4,774 Mexican-Americans,
ages 40 and older, living in Tucson and Nogales, Arizona.
The study participants were randomly chosen based on information
from the 1990 census. They filled out a questionnaire and
were given a thorough eye examination.
"Clearly,
getting access to vision care is a real problem for this community,"
said Sheila K. West, PhD, professor of ophthalmology at Johns
Hopkins and principal investigator of the study. "The
population we studied, in Arizona, was largely low income
and had no access to health insurance, and we believe the
same barriers to care exist in many other areas across the
country. We must increase vision screening and access to health
care services for them."
"Education
programs and interventions to improve access to eye care could
significantly decrease the burden of visual loss among Mexican-Americans,"
said Beatriz Munoz, MS, associate professor of ophthalmology
and author of the study. "Routine eye examinations are
essential to identify people with early eye disease that can
be treated before it worsens or causes blindness."
Source:
Medical Week staff,
week of April 21, 2002
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