Abstract Background Examining factors that contribute to Certification of Vision Impairment (CVI) is important to enable an overview of progression, plan policies and distribution eye care services. Objectives To investigate associations between CVI, rate of change of CVI over a two-year period (2021–2023), percentage of people living in the 20% most deprived areas of Mid and South Essex (MSE), density of optometry practices and population of older people (>60 years) living in five sub-Integrated Care Board locations Sub-ICB 1–5) within MSE. Methods Data were obtained from ICB databases and publicly available sources. Descriptive statistics were summarised to present data, and associations were explored using Spearman’s rank correlation. Results CVI increased over the 2021–2023 period with age-related macular degeneration being the most common cause. In 2023, different Sub-ICB areas showed varying burden with Sub-ICB-2 having the lowest number of CVI (29.2 per 100,000) while Sub-ICB-4 and Sub-ICB-5 showing the highest (75.3–76.3 per 100,000). Sub-ICB-4 also had the highest percentage of older people (>60 years). Strong positive association (ρ = 0.90, p = 0.0374) was found between rate of change of CVI and deprivation. Moderate positive associations between CVI with density of optometry practices (ρ = 0.60, p = 0.285); and the percentage of people over the age of 60 years (ρ = 0.50, p = 0.391). Conclusions CVI increases in areas with older population, and also in those living in 20% most deprived areas, highlighting the potential link between socio-economic factors and vision impairment. These factors are important for targeting interventions in specific areas to reduce the risk of blindness in MSE.
Pardhan et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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