[Causes of visual impairment in Mie Prefecture during a 5-year period].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the causes of visual impairment in Mie prefecture during a five-year period.


METHODS
The study was conducted between April 2004 and March 2009 in Mie Prefecture. 1,322 visually impaired people as defined by the Act on Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons were enrolled. We reviewed age, sex, causes of visual impairment, degree of disability and medical conditions according to their physical disability certificate.


RESULTS
The four major causes of visual impairment were glaucoma (20.3%), diabetic retinopathy (18.9%), retinitis pigmentosa (12.2%), and macular degeneration (9.1%), followed by chorioretinal degeneration, stroke or brain tumor, optic atrophy, and cataract. The average ages of the four major causes were glaucoma (77.1 years), diabetic retinopathy (65.1 years), retinitis pigmentosa (62.5 years) and macular degeneration (77.7 years).


CONCLUSIONS
The most common cause of visual impairment in Mie prefecture was glaucoma. The four major causes in Mie prefecture were the same as the results of the nation-wide investigation reported in 2006.
Ikesugi
Kengo
K
Department of Ophthalmology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu-shi 514-8507, Japan. ikesugi@clin.medic.mie-u.ac.jp
Tsukitome
Hideyuki
H
Yagi
Tatsuya
T
Yamaguchi
Tomoko
T
Tamei
Ikuyo
I
Sasoh
Mikio
M
Uji
Yukitaka
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D002386:Cataract / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009896:Optic Atrophy / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D055815:Young Adult