Blindness certificates from the region of Oberbayern were studied to obtain data for the prevalence, incidence and the causes of blindness in Bavaria. This investigation reveals increasing rates for the prevalence and incidence of blindness. Most (60% of the prevalence and 70-80% of the incidence) of the blind are older than sixty years of age. The prevalence (2.5%) and incidence rate for children (blind before 18 years of age) are low. Macular degeneration (15.4%) has the highest prevalence rate followed by glaucoma (14.3%), retinopathia pigmentosa (10.3%), high myopia (11.5%) and optic atrophy (8%). Blindness from diabetic retinopathy accounts for 7.1% of cases. Macular degeneration is also the leading cause of blindness when incidence rates (28%) for all ages are calculated. Lower incidence rates are found for glaucoma (17%) and diabetic retinopathy (13%). For blind children malformations of the eyes (18.7%) are found to be the leading cause of blindness in regard to prevalence figures. The retinopathy of prematurity (17.2%) and complex cerebral disturbances (16.1%) do present with similar figures.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-2008-1045729 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Retinitis Pigmentosa: Burden of Disease and Current Unmet Needs.
Clin Ophthalmol
June 2022
Market Access HTA & HEOR, EMEA, Santen GmbH, Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a group of inherited retinal dystrophies characterised by progressive vision loss, is the leading cause of visual disability and blindness in subjects less than 60 years old. Currently incurable, therapy is aimed at restricting degeneration of vision, treating complications, and helping patients to cope with the psychosocial impact of their disease. Hence, RP is associated with a high burden of disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClever Cats: Do They Utilize Change Blindness as a Covered Approaching Strategy?
Iperception
February 2021
Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany; Forschungsgruppe EPÆG (Ergonomics, Psychological Æsthetics, Gestalt), Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.
Sometimes, we do not notice big changes in our environment, if these changes occur while we perform eye movements or external events interrupt our perception. This striking phenomenon is known as "change blindness." Research on chimpanzees, macaques, and pigeons suggests that change blindness may not be unique to humans, but our understanding is limited by the difficulty of carrying out change blindness experiments in animals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtrinsic grouping factors in motion-induced blindness.
PLoS One
March 2018
Department of General Psychology and Methodology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.
We investigated how various grouping factors altered subjective disappearances of the individual targets in the motion-induced blindness display. The latter relies on a moving mask to render highly salient static targets temporarily subjectively invisible. Specifically, we employed two extrinsic grouping factors, the connectedness and the common region, and examined whether their presence would make targets more resilient against the suppression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn Eye on Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The Role of MicroRNAs in Disease Pathology.
Mol Diagn Ther
February 2017
Institute of Human Genetics, University of Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauss-Allee 11, 93053, Regensburg, Germany.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the primary cause of blindness in developed countries, and is the third leading cause worldwide. Emerging evidence suggests that beside environmental and genetic factors, epigenetic mechanisms, such as microRNA (miRNA) regulation of gene expression, are relevant to AMD providing an exciting new avenue for research and therapy. MiRNAs are short, non-coding RNAs thought to be imperative for coping with cellular stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF[Ophthalmological assessment in procedures for disability benefits for the blind : Why medical certificates alone are insufficient].
Ophthalmologe
June 2016
Universitätsaugenklinik der TU München, München, Deutschland.
Background And Objectives: Financial aid for the blind which is awarded based only on medical certificates and results of examinations has in the past resulted in too many false diagnoses; therefore, Bavaria seeks to pay financial aid to the blind only on the basis of a specific ophthalmological assessment according to the standards of the German pension medical ordinance (VersMedV, Versorgungsmedizinische Verordnung). Because these ophthalmological assessments initially contribute to a higher financial burden on the state, longer processing times and inconvenience to the patient, investigations should be undertaken to determine if ophthalmological findings, reports and medical certificates can be a suitable basis for an expert assessment and in how many cases blindness which had been certified by the original examination could be confirmed by a specific ophthalmological assessment.
Methods: A total of 925 applications for financial assistance to the blind within the catchment area of the Bavarian Center for Family and Social Services (ZBFS, Zentrum Bayern Familie und Soziales) regional center in Upper Bavaria between 2003 and 2008, all of which had been subjected to an assessment by the same practitioner acting as external expert, were statistically analyzed.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!