Trends in Visual Disability in Taiwan

1. Ching-Yao Tsai
2. Ching-Heng Lin
3. Lin-Chung Woung
4. Pesus Chou
5. Shiow-Wen Liou
6. Jau-Der Ho

1. Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
2. National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
3. Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Purpose: To estimate nationwide incidence rates and cumulative incidence rates of registered visual disability, and to investigate the current trends in visual disability among populations of all ages in Taiwan.

Methods: The files of all newly registered blindness-allowance recipients in Taiwan between 1997 and 2002 were reviewed. Annual incidence and cumulative incidence rates were calculated.

Results: There were 20,313 new registries from the Disability Identification Registration Forms database. The incidence of visual disability showed a gradual rate of increase with values of 0.2–5.1 per 100,000 persons for each year in Taiwan. The mean annual incidence was 15.3 per 100,000 persons. Cumulative incidence rate was 90.5 per 100,000 persons in 6 years. The cumulative incidence rates for the age groups of 0–14, 15–39, 40–64, and ≥65 years were 3.4, 3.0, 11.7, and 26.1 cases per 100,000 respectively in 1997. In 2002, the cumulative incidence rates for all the age groups (0–14, 15–39, 40–64, and ≥65 years) rose to 23.6, 28.4, 124.7, and 412.0 cases per 100,000 respectively.

Conclusions: The nationwide incidence and cumulative incidence rates of visual disability in Taiwan increased significantly with age and showed a statistically significant trend.