Main causes of vision impairment and blindness
- Measure 1.2.1
- The main causes of vision impairment and blindness (vision loss) for First Nations people, as a proportion of those with vision loss.
Most of the vision loss experienced by First Nations people is potentially preventable. Measures of the prevalence of vision impairment and blindness are important for monitoring changes in eye health over time and identifying the need for services (Figure 5 and Figure 6).
Figure 5: Main causes of vision impairment and blindness by Indigenous status, 2016
Main causes of vision impairment and blindness by Indigenous status, 2016
This chart shows weighted point estimates and confidence intervals for the main causes of vision loss among participants in the 2016 National Eye Health Survey by indigenous status. The data is presented as a combined scatter plot for the point estimate and Gant chart representing the confidence intervals. The top 3 causes of vision loss for First Nations people were refractive error (61%), cataract (20%) and diabetic retinopathy (5.2%). For Non -Indigenous they were refractive error (61%), cataract (13%) and age-related macular degeneration (10%).
Main causes of vision loss were refractive error (61%), cataracts (20%) and diabetic retinopathy (5%).
Figure 6: Main causes of vision impairment and blindness by sex, 2016
Main causes of vision impairment and blindness by sex, 2016
This stacked vertical bar chart compares the proportion of Indigenous and non Indigenous participants with different causes of vision loss in 2016, by sex. The chart shows that the main causes of vision loss for Indigenous males and females were similar, though a higher proportion of Indigenous males had refractive error as a main cause and a higher proportion of Indigenous females had cataracts as a main cause.
The chart shows that the pattern of causes for males and females was similar for non-Indigenous Australians. Age-related macular degeneration was the third most common cause for non-Indigenous Australians but this was not the case for Indigenous Australians.
- Results of the 2016 National eye health survey (NEHS) showed that the 3 main causes of vision loss for First Nations people aged 40 and over were refractive error (61%), cataract (20%) and diabetic retinopathy (5.2%).
- In 2016, a higher proportion of First Nations and non-Indigenous males had refractive error than First Nations and non-Indigenous females.