1.5 Million U.S. Adults Have Vision-Affecting Glaucoma

FRIDAY, Oct. 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — An estimated 2.56 percent of U.S. adults ages 40 years and older have glaucoma, according to a study published online Oct. 17 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Joshua R. Ehrlich, M.D., from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues used the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System to estimate glaucoma prevalence among U.S. states and counties in 2022.

The researchers found that an estimated 4.22 million people were living with glaucoma in the United States in 2022. The prevalence was 1.62 percent for adults overall and 2.56 percent for those ages 40 years and older. Vision-affecting glaucoma impacted an estimated 1.49 million people (0.57 percent of adults overall and 0.91 percent among people ages 40 years and older). Geographic prevalence varied from 1.11 percent of adults in Utah to 1.95 percent in Mississippi. Prevalence was higher among Black adults versus White (3.15 and 1.42 percent, respectively). For Hispanic adults, the prevalence was 1.56 percent.

“These estimates may help provide information for the development and prioritization of public health strategies and interventions, the monitoring of epidemiologic trends, and evaluation of programs tailored for communities and populations at highest risk of glaucoma,” the authors write.

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