Description
Epidemiology can be defined as the study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations, and the application of this study to control of health problems. There is an estimated 180 million people worldwide who have visual impairment. The major causes of avoidable vision loss are: cataract, trachoma and glaucoma. Together they account for 70% of the worlds blindness. Compared to worldwide data the percentage of preventable and treatable anterior segment causes of blindness in the UK is low: the incidence of non-remediable posterior segment conditions is much higher. As the number of older visually impaired people is set to rise, the demand for low vision service provision will also increase.
