When It Comes to Vision Impairment, Americans Are In the Dark
Some Eye-Opening Facts from Lighthouse International
Lighthouse International promotes the use of universal graphic design standards in creating visual communications that are accessible to a wider range of people. Strictly speaking, these standards include the use of braille and raised letters in addition to accessible large print.
Did you know...?
- One in six Americans (17%) 45 years of age or older, representing 16.5 million middle-age and older adults, report some form of vision impairment even when wearing glasses or contact lenses. By the year 2010, when all baby boomers are age 45 and older, this number will increase to 20 million.
- The proportion of adults reporting some form of vision impairment increases dramatically with age -- 15% of adults age 45-64, 17% of adults age 65-74, and 26% (one in four) of adults 75 and older.
- The vast majority of middle-age and older Americans who report vision impairment are partially sighted rather than totally blind. Only 2% of all Americans age 45 and older report that they are blind in both eyes.
- Half of all people with impaired vision age 45 and older report that their vision problem interferes with their daily lives.
- Nationally, among persons age 21-64 who are visually impaired, only 43.7% are employed. This figure decreases to 30.8% among severely visually impaired persons. This proportion is significantly lower than the 82% of persons in this age group without any disability who are employed.
- Macular degeneration is the leading cause of new cases of legal blindness, followed by glaucoma (except congenital), diabetic retinopathy and cataracts.
"These statistics underscore that vision problems are affecting -- and will continue to affect -- growing numbers of older people, and reveal a true public health crisis in America as we move into the 21st century," says Amy Horowitz, DSW, Senior Vice President for Research and Evaluation, and Director of the Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute at Lighthouse International.
Sources: The Lighthouse National Survey on Vision Loss (1995); The Lighthouse National Survey of Vision Loss (1995) data applied to population estimates from the US Census Bureau, Census 2000; McNeil (1997, 1998); National Society to Prevent Blindness (1980).