Incidence of Newly Registered Blindness From Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Australia Over a 21-Year Period: 1996–2016

Purpose: Report the age-standardized annual incidence of blindness registration due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Australia in patients aged 50 years and older. Frequencies of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and intravitreal therapy (IVT) were examined. Design: Retrospective observational study. Setting: Registry of the Association for the Blind of Western Australia with best-corrected visual acuity worse than 20/200 in the better-seeing eye. Participants: Registering as blind aged 50 years or over. Measures: Annual age-standardized incidence of blindness over 3 time periods: 1996–2001 (pre-PDT), 2002–2007 (PDT era) and 2008–2016 (IVT era). The rates of PDT and IVT usage were assessed. Results: Age-standardized annual incidence of blindness rose during the PDT era, reaching 72.5 cases per 100,000 person-years in 2004. The incidence declined from 2007 onwards, reaching 8.2 cases per 100,000 person-years in 2016 (IVT era). The age at AMD blindness registration increased from 82.7 to 84.9 and 83.7 to 86.0 years from the PDT era to the IVT era in both male and females (P 
Source: Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology - Category: Opthalmology Tags: Original Study Source Type: research