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Annual incidences of visual impairment during 10-year period in Mie prefecture, Japan

  • Clinical Investigation
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Japanese Journal of Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To determine the annual incidence of visual impairment in a Japanese population during a 10-year period.

Methods

We examined the physical disability certificates issued yearly between 2004 and 2013 in Mie prefecture, Japan. During this period 2468 visually impaired people were registered under the newly defined Act on Welfare of the Physically Disabled Persons’ criteria. The age, sex distribution, and causes of visual impairment were determined from the certificates.

Results

The major causes of visual impairment during the ten-year period were glaucoma (23.3%), diabetic retinopathy (17.3%), retinitis pigmentosa (12.2%), macular degeneration (9.0%), chorioretinal degeneration or high myopia (7.4%), optic atrophy (5.8%), stroke or brain tumor (5.4%) and cataracts (3.7%). The incidence of glaucoma was significantly higher throughout the period (2004–2013), and that of diabetic retinopathy was lower between 2007 and 2013. The incidence of retinitis pigmentosa did not change significantly during the 10-year period. The incidence of macular degeneration tended to increase between 2004 and 2007, but it decreased significantly between 2007 and 2013.

Conclusions

The results indicate that in Japan, the rates of the major causes of visual impairment altered in the most recent 10-year period reflecting the recent changes in the social background and advances in ocular and systemic treatment.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Professor Duco I. Hamasaki of the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami for critical discussion and final manuscript revisions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie, 514-8507, Japan

    Kengo Ikesugi, Takako Ichio, Hideyuki Tsukitome & Mineo Kondo

Authors
  1. Kengo Ikesugi
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  2. Takako Ichio
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  3. Hideyuki Tsukitome
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  4. Mineo Kondo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kengo Ikesugi.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Ikesugi, K., Ichio, T., Tsukitome, H. et al. Annual incidences of visual impairment during 10-year period in Mie prefecture, Japan. Jpn J Ophthalmol 61, 293–298 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-017-0517-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10384-017-0517-x

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