New blindness incidents in Württemberg-Hohenzollern

Abstract

Blindness causes human suffering and high social costs. Preventive measures are necessary. Virtually all blind people are registered with the social services. Data from these institutions may help in (long-term) planning for blindness prevention. MATERIAL AND METHODS:

The present investigation analysed data from the social services of the region Württemberg-Hohenzollern. The files contained information on ocular status, year of birth, district, and sex of newly blind subjects of the year 1994. RESULTS:

Two thirds (66.8%) of newly blind subjects are women. About half (47.8%) of all subjects are over 80 years of age. The most frequent causes of blindness are: macular degeneration, 33.7%; diabetic retinopathy, 17.3%; glaucoma, 13.8%; and high myopia, 6.6%. CONCLUSIONS:

Blindness is increasingly a problem of high age. Diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are still major causes of blindness. For these diseases blindness prevention is conceivable. Thus co-ordinated blindness prevention activities should focus on diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.