Burden of vision loss in the Eastern Mediterranean region, 1990–2015: findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2015 Study

Journal article

Objectives
To report the estimated trend in prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs) due to vision loss (VL) in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) from 1990 to 2015.

Methods
The estimated trends in age-standardized prevalence and the YLDs rate due to VL in 22 EMR countries were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2015 study. The association of Socio-demographic Index (SDI) with changes in prevalence and YLDs of VL was evaluated using a multilevel mixed model.

Results
The age-standardized prevalence of VL in the EMR was 18.2% in 1990 and 15.5% in 2015. The total age-standardized YLDs rate attributed to all-cause VL in EMR was 536.9 per 100,000 population in 1990 and 482.3 per 100,000 population in 2015. For each 0.1 unit increase in SDI, the age-standardized prevalence and YLDs rate of VL showed a reduction of 1.5% (p < 0.001) and 23.9 per 100,000 population (p < 0.001), respectively.

Conclusions
The burden of VL is high in the EMR; however, it shows a descending trend over the past 25 years. EMR countries need to establish comprehensive eye care programs in their health care systems.

Authors: Global Burden of Disease 2015 Eastern Mediterranean Region Vision Loss Collaborators; Hay, S

• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Journal: International Journal of Public Health
• Publication date: 2017-08-03
• Acceptance date: 2017-06-23
• DOI: 10.1007/s00038-017-1000-7
• EISSN: 1661-8564
• ISSN: 1661-8556
• Keywords: Vision disorder; Global burden of disease; Eastern Mediterranean region; Vision impairment