title: The importance of ophthalmic diseases in the economy and national health care system.
abstract: The incidence of eye diseases in Finland and the use of glasses has not been much investigated. During 1979-80 an inquiry was made in which a questionnaire was sent by mail to 12 000 people. 1500 volunteers from Estern, Western and Southern Finland were invited to a clinical eye examination. The incidence of eye diseases was low. A little over 2% of the respondents needed continuous ophthalmic treatment. The mean visual acuity was normal in 80% with glasses. About half of the patients examined wore glasses, slightly more females than males.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005139:Eyeglasses; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014792:Visual Acuity