Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study; Konrad Pesudovs; GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators; Bright Opoku Ahinkorah; Syed Shujait Shujait Ali; Himal Kandel; Colm McAlinden; Ganesh R. Naik; Seyed Afshin Shorofi

doi:10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study, Konrad Pesudovs, GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah, Syed Shujait Shujait Ali, Himal Kandel, Colm McAlinden, Ganesh R. Naik, Seyed Afshin Shorofi

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Background: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals.

Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population.

Results: In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%).

Conclusions: The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2156-2172
Number of pages	17
Journal	Eye (Basingstoke)
Volume	38
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1
Publication status	Published - Aug 2024

Keywords

blindness
cataract
meta-analysis
systematic review

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10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1Licence: CC BY

Final published versionFinal published version, 2.02 MBLicence: CC BY

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Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study, Pesudovs, K., GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators, Ahinkorah, B. O., Ali, S. S. S., Kandel, H., McAlinden, C., Naik, G. R., & Shorofi, S. A. (2024). Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020. Eye (Basingstoke), 38(11), 2156-2172. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1

@article{caf82c37e2ab429d953ed09d8d067873,

title = "Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020",

abstract = "Background: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population.Results: In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%). Conclusions: The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery.",

keywords = "blindness, cataract, meta-analysis, systematic review",

author = "{Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study} and Konrad Pesudovs and Lansingh, {Van Charles} and Kempen, {John H.} and Ian Tapply and Fernandes, {Arthur G.} and Cicinelli, {Maria Vittoria} and Alessandro Arrigo and Nicolas Leveziel and Serge Resnikoff and Taylor, {Hugh R.} and Tabassom Sedighi and Seth Flaxman and Bikbov, {Mukkharram M.} and Tasanee Braithwaite and Alain Bron and Ching-Yu Cheng and {Del Monte}, {Monte A.} and Ehrlich, {Joshua R.} and Ellwein, {Leon B.} and David Friedman and Furtado, {Jo{\~a}o M.} and Gus Gazzard and Ronnie George and Hartnett, {M. Elizabeth} and Jonas, {Jost B.} and Rim Kahloun and Moncef Khairallah and Khanna, {Rohit C.} and Janet Leasher and Julie-Anne Little and Vinay Nangia and Michal Nowak and Tunde Peto and Pradeep Ramulu and Fotis Topouzis and Mitiadis Tsilimbaris and Wang, {Ya Xing} and Ningli Wang and Rupert Bourne and {GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators} and Briant, {Paul Svitil} and Theo Vos and Serge Resnikoff and Seth Flaxman and Abate, {Yohannes Habtegiorgis} and Mohammad Abdollahi and Mozhan Abdollahi and Abebe, {Ayele Mamo} and Olumide Abiodun and Abrha, {Woldu Aberhe} and Hasan Abualruz and Ali, {Hiwa Abubaker} and Eman Abu-Gharbieh and Salahdein Aburuz and Adal, {Tadele Girum Girum} and Adane, {Mesafint Molla} and Addo, {Isaac Yeboah} and Adnani, {Qorinah Estiningtyas Sakilah} and Afzal, {Muhammad Sohail} and Shahin Aghamiri and Ahinkorah, {Bright Opoku} and Aqeel Ahmad and Sajjad Ahmad and Ali Ahmadi and Ayman Ahmed and Haroon Ahmed and Alfaar, {Ahmad Samir} and Abid Ali and Ali, {Syed Shujait Shujait} and Awais Altaf and Hubert Amu and Sofia Androudi and Rodrigo Anguita and Abhishek Anil and Saeid Anvari and Anyasodor, {Anayochukwu Edward} and Francis Appiah and Jalal Arabloo and Mosab Arafat and Damelash Areda and Reza Arefnezhad and Aregawi, {Brhane Berhe} and Asgedom, {Akeza Awealom} and Tahira Ashraf and Athari, {Seyyed Shamsadin} and Atinafu, {Bantalem Tilaye Tilaye} and Atout, {Maha Moh{\textquoteright}d Wahbi} and Alok Atreya and Haleh Ayatollahi and Azzam, {Ahmed Y.} and Hassan Babamohamadi and Sara Bagherieh and Yogesh Bahurupi and Baig, {Atif Amin} and Biswajit Banik and Mainak Bardhan and Saurav Basu and Kavita Batra and Bayileyegn, {Nebiyou Simegnew} and Fatemeh Bazvand and Beyene, {Addisu Shunu} and Bhagat, {Devidas S.} and Bhagavathula, {Akshaya Srikanth} and Pankaj Bhardwaj and Sonu Bhaskar and Bhatti, {Jasvinder Singh} and Mukharram Bikbov and Niloufar Bineshfar and Birck, {Marina G.} and Bitra, {Veera R.} and Tasanee Braithwaite and Katrin Burkart and Yasser Bustanji and Butt, {Zahid A.} and {dos Santos}, {Florentino Luciano Caetano} and C{\'a}mera, {Luis Alberto} and Carneiro, {Vera L.A.} and Muthia Cenderadewi and Chandrasekar, {Eeshwar K.} and Chattu, {Vijay Kumar} and Nitin Chitranshi and Hitesh Chopra and Chu, {Dinh Toi} and Kaleb Coberly and Coelho, {Jo{\~a}o M.} and Nat{\'a}lia Cruz-Martins and Omid Dadras and Xiaochen Dai and Subasish Das and Dascalu, {Ana Maria} and Mohsen Dashti and Maedeh Dastmardi and Demessa, {Berecha Hundessa} and Biniyam Demisse and Diriba Dereje and Derese, {Awoke Masrie Asrat} and Nikolaos Dervenis and Devanbu, {Vinoth Gnana Chellaiyan} and Do, {Thanh Chi} and Do, {Thao Huynh Phuong} and {dos Santos Figueiredo}, {Francisco Winter} and Dziedzic, {Arkadiusz Marian} and Edinur, {Hisham Atan} and Ferry Efendi and Ehrlich, {Joshua R.} and Michael Ekholuenetale and Ekundayo, {Temitope Cyrus} and Sayed, {Iman El} and Muhammed Elhadi and Emamian, {Mohammad Hassan} and Mehdi Emamverdi and Azin Etemadimanesh and Fagbamigbe, {Adeniyi Francis} and Ayesha Fahim and Hossein Farrokhpour and Ali Fatehizadeh and Alireza Feizkhah and Desideri, {Lorenzo Ferro} and Getahun Fetensa and Florian Fischer and Ali Forouhari and Matteo Foschi and Fowobaje, {Kayode Raphael} and Gaidhane, {Abhay Motiramji} and Gandhi, {Aravind P.} and Gebregergis, {Miglas W.W.} and Mesfin Gebrehiwot and Brhane Gebremariam and Urge Gerema and Fariba Ghassemi and Sherief Ghozy and Mahaveer Golechha and Pouya Goleij and Goulart, {B{\'a}rbara Niegia Garcia} and Guan, {Shi Yang} and Zewdie Gudisa and Sapna Gupta and Gupta, {Veer Bala} and Gupta, {Vivek Kumar} and Arvin Haj-Mirzaian and Aram Halimi and Shahin Hallaj and Samer Hamidi and Mehdi Harorani and Hamidreza Hasani and Heyi, {Demisu Zenbaba} and Hoan, {Nguyen Quoc} and Ramesh Holla and Hong, {Sung Hwi} and Mehdi Hosseinzadeh and Chengxi Hu and Huang, {John J.} and Huynh, {Hong Han} and Ibitoye, {Segun Emmanuel} and Ilic, {Irena M.} and Mustapha Immurana and Islam, {Md Rabiul} and Islam, {Sheikh Mohammed Shariful} and Iwu, {Chidozie C.D.} and Louis Jacob and Jairoun, {Ammar Abdulrahman} and Janodia, {Manthan Dilipkumar} and Shubha Jayaram and Jindal, {Har Ashish} and Mohammad Jokar and Nitin Joseph and Joshua, {Charity Ehimwenma} and Vidya Kadashetti and Kalankesh, {Laleh R.} and Rohollah Kalhor and Sagarika Kamath and Himal Kandel and Kantar, {Rami S.} and Karaye, {Ibraheem M.} and Hengameh Kasraei and Soujanya Kaup and Navjot Kaur and Kaur, {Rimple Jeet} and Kayode, {Gbenga A.} and Khader, {Yousef Saleh} and Himanshu Khajuria and Rovshan Khalilov and Khatib, {Mahalaqua Nazli} and Adnan Kisa and Soewarta Kosen and Ai Koyanagi and Kewal Krishan and Mukhtar Kulimbet and Nithin Kumar and Kurmi, {Om P.} and Chandrakant Lahariya and Tuo Lan and Iv{\'a}n Landires and Leasher, {Janet L.} and Munjae Lee and Lee, {Seung Won} and Lee, {Wei Chen} and Lim, {Stephen S.} and Little, {Julie Anne} and Colm McAlinden and Naik, {Ganesh R.} and Shorofi, {Seyed Afshin}",

year = "2024",

month = aug,

doi = "10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

pages = "2156--2172",

journal = "Eye (Basingstoke)",

issn = "0950-222X",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "11",

}

Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study, Pesudovs, K, GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators, Ahinkorah, BO, Ali, SSS, Kandel, H, McAlinden, C, Naik, GR & Shorofi, SA 2024, 'Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020', Eye (Basingstoke), vol. 38, no. 11, pp. 2156-2172. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020. / Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study; Pesudovs, Konrad; GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators et al.
In: Eye (Basingstoke), Vol. 38, No. 11, 08.2024, p. 2156-2172.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract

T2 - a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

AU - Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study

AU - Pesudovs, Konrad

AU - Lansingh, Van Charles

AU - Kempen, John H.

AU - Tapply, Ian

AU - Fernandes, Arthur G.

AU - Cicinelli, Maria Vittoria

AU - Arrigo, Alessandro

AU - Leveziel, Nicolas

AU - Resnikoff, Serge

AU - Taylor, Hugh R.

AU - Sedighi, Tabassom

AU - Flaxman, Seth

AU - Bikbov, Mukkharram M.

AU - Braithwaite, Tasanee

AU - Bron, Alain

AU - Cheng, Ching-Yu

AU - Del Monte, Monte A.

AU - Ehrlich, Joshua R.

AU - Ellwein, Leon B.

AU - Friedman, David

AU - Furtado, João M.

AU - Gazzard, Gus

AU - George, Ronnie

AU - Hartnett, M. Elizabeth

AU - Jonas, Jost B.

AU - Kahloun, Rim

AU - Khairallah, Moncef

AU - Khanna, Rohit C.

AU - Leasher, Janet

AU - Little, Julie-Anne

AU - Nangia, Vinay

AU - Nowak, Michal

AU - Peto, Tunde

AU - Ramulu, Pradeep

AU - Topouzis, Fotis

AU - Tsilimbaris, Mitiadis

AU - Wang, Ya Xing

AU - Wang, Ningli

AU - Bourne, Rupert

AU - GBD 2019 Blindness and Vision Impairment Collaborators

AU - Briant, Paul Svitil

AU - Vos, Theo

AU - Resnikoff, Serge

AU - Flaxman, Seth

AU - Abate, Yohannes Habtegiorgis

AU - Abdollahi, Mohammad

AU - Abdollahi, Mozhan

AU - Abebe, Ayele Mamo

AU - Abiodun, Olumide

AU - Abrha, Woldu Aberhe

AU - Abualruz, Hasan

AU - Ali, Hiwa Abubaker

AU - Abu-Gharbieh, Eman

AU - Aburuz, Salahdein

AU - Adal, Tadele Girum Girum

AU - Adane, Mesafint Molla

AU - Addo, Isaac Yeboah

AU - Adnani, Qorinah Estiningtyas Sakilah

AU - Afzal, Muhammad Sohail

AU - Aghamiri, Shahin

AU - Ahinkorah, Bright Opoku

AU - Ahmad, Aqeel

AU - Ahmad, Sajjad

AU - Ahmadi, Ali

AU - Ahmed, Ayman

AU - Ahmed, Haroon

AU - Alfaar, Ahmad Samir

AU - Ali, Abid

AU - Ali, Syed Shujait Shujait

AU - Altaf, Awais

AU - Amu, Hubert

AU - Androudi, Sofia

AU - Anguita, Rodrigo

AU - Anil, Abhishek

AU - Anvari, Saeid

AU - Anyasodor, Anayochukwu Edward

AU - Appiah, Francis

AU - Arabloo, Jalal

AU - Arafat, Mosab

AU - Areda, Damelash

AU - Arefnezhad, Reza

AU - Aregawi, Brhane Berhe

AU - Asgedom, Akeza Awealom

AU - Ashraf, Tahira

AU - Athari, Seyyed Shamsadin

AU - Atinafu, Bantalem Tilaye Tilaye

AU - Atout, Maha Moh’d Wahbi

AU - Atreya, Alok

AU - Ayatollahi, Haleh

AU - Azzam, Ahmed Y.

AU - Babamohamadi, Hassan

AU - Bagherieh, Sara

AU - Bahurupi, Yogesh

AU - Baig, Atif Amin

AU - Banik, Biswajit

AU - Bardhan, Mainak

AU - Basu, Saurav

AU - Batra, Kavita

AU - Bayileyegn, Nebiyou Simegnew

AU - Bazvand, Fatemeh

AU - Beyene, Addisu Shunu

AU - Bhagat, Devidas S.

AU - Bhagavathula, Akshaya Srikanth

AU - Bhardwaj, Pankaj

AU - Bhaskar, Sonu

AU - Bhatti, Jasvinder Singh

AU - Bikbov, Mukharram

AU - Bineshfar, Niloufar

AU - Birck, Marina G.

AU - Bitra, Veera R.

AU - Braithwaite, Tasanee

AU - Burkart, Katrin

AU - Bustanji, Yasser

AU - Butt, Zahid A.

AU - dos Santos, Florentino Luciano Caetano

AU - Cámera, Luis Alberto

AU - Carneiro, Vera L.A.

AU - Cenderadewi, Muthia

AU - Chandrasekar, Eeshwar K.

AU - Chattu, Vijay Kumar

AU - Chitranshi, Nitin

AU - Chopra, Hitesh

AU - Chu, Dinh Toi

AU - Coberly, Kaleb

AU - Coelho, João M.

AU - Cruz-Martins, Natália

AU - Dadras, Omid

AU - Dai, Xiaochen

AU - Das, Subasish

AU - Dascalu, Ana Maria

AU - Dashti, Mohsen

AU - Dastmardi, Maedeh

AU - Demessa, Berecha Hundessa

AU - Demisse, Biniyam

AU - Dereje, Diriba

AU - Derese, Awoke Masrie Asrat

AU - Dervenis, Nikolaos

AU - Devanbu, Vinoth Gnana Chellaiyan

AU - Do, Thanh Chi

AU - Do, Thao Huynh Phuong

AU - dos Santos Figueiredo, Francisco Winter

AU - Dziedzic, Arkadiusz Marian

AU - Edinur, Hisham Atan

AU - Efendi, Ferry

AU - Ehrlich, Joshua R.

AU - Ekholuenetale, Michael

AU - Ekundayo, Temitope Cyrus

AU - Sayed, Iman El

AU - Elhadi, Muhammed

AU - Emamian, Mohammad Hassan

AU - Emamverdi, Mehdi

AU - Etemadimanesh, Azin

AU - Fagbamigbe, Adeniyi Francis

AU - Fahim, Ayesha

AU - Farrokhpour, Hossein

AU - Fatehizadeh, Ali

AU - Feizkhah, Alireza

AU - Desideri, Lorenzo Ferro

AU - Fetensa, Getahun

AU - Fischer, Florian

AU - Forouhari, Ali

AU - Foschi, Matteo

AU - Fowobaje, Kayode Raphael

AU - Gaidhane, Abhay Motiramji

AU - Gandhi, Aravind P.

AU - Gebregergis, Miglas W.W.

AU - Gebrehiwot, Mesfin

AU - Gebremariam, Brhane

AU - Gerema, Urge

AU - Ghassemi, Fariba

AU - Ghozy, Sherief

AU - Golechha, Mahaveer

AU - Goleij, Pouya

AU - Goulart, Bárbara Niegia Garcia

AU - Guan, Shi Yang

AU - Gudisa, Zewdie

AU - Gupta, Sapna

AU - Gupta, Veer Bala

AU - Gupta, Vivek Kumar

AU - Haj-Mirzaian, Arvin

AU - Halimi, Aram

AU - Hallaj, Shahin

AU - Hamidi, Samer

AU - Harorani, Mehdi

AU - Hasani, Hamidreza

AU - Heyi, Demisu Zenbaba

AU - Hoan, Nguyen Quoc

AU - Holla, Ramesh

AU - Hong, Sung Hwi

AU - Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi

AU - Hu, Chengxi

AU - Huang, John J.

AU - Huynh, Hong Han

AU - Ibitoye, Segun Emmanuel

AU - Ilic, Irena M.

AU - Immurana, Mustapha

AU - Islam, Md Rabiul

AU - Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful

AU - Iwu, Chidozie C.D.

AU - Jacob, Louis

AU - Jairoun, Ammar Abdulrahman

AU - Janodia, Manthan Dilipkumar

AU - Jayaram, Shubha

AU - Jindal, Har Ashish

AU - Jokar, Mohammad

AU - Joseph, Nitin

AU - Joshua, Charity Ehimwenma

AU - Kadashetti, Vidya

AU - Kalankesh, Laleh R.

AU - Kalhor, Rohollah

AU - Kamath, Sagarika

AU - Kandel, Himal

AU - Kantar, Rami S.

AU - Karaye, Ibraheem M.

AU - Kasraei, Hengameh

AU - Kaup, Soujanya

AU - Kaur, Navjot

AU - Kaur, Rimple Jeet

AU - Kayode, Gbenga A.

AU - Khader, Yousef Saleh

AU - Khajuria, Himanshu

AU - Khalilov, Rovshan

AU - Khatib, Mahalaqua Nazli

AU - Kisa, Adnan

AU - Kosen, Soewarta

AU - Koyanagi, Ai

AU - Krishan, Kewal

AU - Kulimbet, Mukhtar

AU - Kumar, Nithin

AU - Kurmi, Om P.

AU - Lahariya, Chandrakant

AU - Lan, Tuo

AU - Landires, Iván

AU - Leasher, Janet L.

AU - Lee, Munjae

AU - Lee, Seung Won

AU - Lee, Wei Chen

AU - Lim, Stephen S.

AU - Little, Julie Anne

AU - McAlinden, Colm

AU - Naik, Ganesh R.

AU - Shorofi, Seyed Afshin

PY - 2024/8

Y1 - 2024/8

N2 - Background: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population.Results: In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%). Conclusions: The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery.

AB - Background: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population.Results: In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%). Conclusions: The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery.

KW - blindness

KW - cataract

KW - meta-analysis

KW - systematic review

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85199813971&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1

DO - 10.1038/s41433-024-02961-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 38461217

AN - SCOPUS:85199813971

SN - 0950-222X

VL - 38

SP - 2156

EP - 2172

JO - Eye (Basingstoke)

JF - Eye (Basingstoke)

IS - 11

ER -

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

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