A new study “Prevalence of Glaucoma Among US Adults in 2022” published in JAMA Ophthalmology, found that approximately 4.22 million people in the United States have glaucoma (1.62% of adults ages 18 and older), and 1.49 million people (0.57% of adults ages 18 and older) have vision-affecting glaucoma, with substantial variation in prevalence across demographic subgroups, U.S. states, and counties in 2022. Among those ages 40 and older, 2.56% have glaucoma and 0.91% have vision-affecting glaucoma. Previous estimates of glaucoma prevalence published in 2016 were 2.1% of adults ages 40 years and older and did not include estimates for those under 40 years old, or estimates of vision-affecting glaucoma.
The study was authored by researchers from NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC), the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington (Seattle), The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan, and the Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Glaucoma Center of Excellence, Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vision Health Initiative, with dissemination support from Prevent Blindness. Funding for this study was provided by the CDC Vision Health Initiative via cooperative agreement NU58DP007190, “Improving and Enhancing the US Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System.” This study leverages new multi-source, composite estimates of the prevalence of glaucoma and vision-affecting glaucoma in the US for individuals aged 18 and older.
Additional key findings from the study include:
- Black individuals are about 3 times as likely to have vision-affecting glaucoma as compared to White individuals.
- An estimated 1.94 million individuals with male sex/gender and 2.29 million individuals with female sex/gender are living with glaucoma.
- One in about 180 adults have vision loss from glaucoma, with risk increasing with age.
- Rates of glaucoma vary by location, with Mississippi having the highest glaucoma prevalence rate (1.95 percent), and Utah the lowest (1.11 percent).
Read the full news release from Prevent Blindness.
Source: Prevent Blindness