Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42888377›Full record

ArticleOphthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists)2026

Global and Regional Risk Factors for Vision Impairment in 2020 and Multi-decadal Trends 1990-2020: A Meta-Analysis and Visual Display Based on Prevalence Data From the Global Burden of Disease study and Vision Loss Expert Group.

Michele Bottone, Jost Jonas, Jaimie Steinmetz, Tasanee Braithwaite, Robert Casson, Joshua Ehrlich, Hugh R Taylor, David Friedman, Nathan Congdon, John Kempen and 18 more

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Article in Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

28 authors.

Michele Bottone *Imperial College, London, UK.
Jost JonasRothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris, France.
Jaimie SteinmetzInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Tasanee BraithwaiteCentre for Translational Medicine, King's Health Partners, London, UK.
Robert CassonUniversity of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Joshua EhrlichUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Hugh R TaylorUniversity of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
David FriedmanMassachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Nathan CongdonQueen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
John KempenMassachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Janet LeasherNova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida, USA.
Ningli WangBeijing Tongren Hospital, Beijing, China.
Rohit KhannaL V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India.
Tunde PetoQueen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK.
Joao M FurtadoUniversidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2490-5747
Tien Y WongTsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Mary E HartnettStanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Maria V CicinelliVita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
Nina TahhanUniversity of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Van C LansinghUniversity of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
Sophia Y WangStanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Ian TapplyCambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK.
Paul BriantUniversity of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Theo VosInstitute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Serge ResnikoffUniversity of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Seth R FlaxmanUniversity of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Rupert R A Bourne *Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK. rb@rupertbourne.co.uk.
Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo investigate global and regional risk factors for blindness and vision impairment pertaining to all geographical locations between 1990 and 2020.

methods(1) Twenty-four covariates were selected with a potential link to vision impairment from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) Covariates database as predictive factors. (2) From these, the linear association was investigated, with crude and age-standardised prevalence estimates of blindness and distance and near vision impairment in 2020 by using data for the whole population, sex and 5-year age groups, and by stratifying severity through mild, moderate, severe and total impairment. (3) Analysis investigated whether percentage rates of change in risk factors were associated with rates of change in prevalence in 1990-2020.

resultsFor adults (50+ years), for crude and age-standardised vision loss prevalence estimates for the year 2020, a significant negative association of smoking prevalence was found initially for all persons and for each sex, which appears to be due to ecological confounding and became a positive association using more granular regional and age group data. Maternal care and immunisation, sanitation proportion, Health Access and Quality Index and Socio-demographic Index were other significant age-standardised negative associations. Ophthalmologists/million population had a weak but significant protective effect, and positive associations were found for pollution (outdoor and indoor), stronger for greater vision impairment severities. Years in education per capita were weakly, negatively associated with vision loss prevalence, yet zero education proportion had a stronger but positive association for both sexes.

conclusionsThis study confirmed associations at population level globally, which appear to be stable over decades. In addition, the study quantified the contribution of epidemiologically-based risk factors to vision loss at a GBD super-regional level, which is novel. This opens useful avenues for targeted intervention by policymakers. For example, reduction in sex inequity in blindness rates over 30 years has been positively associated with reducing overall prevalence of blindness.

Indexed as

BlindnessEpidemiologyPollutionRisk factorsSmokingVision impairment

Identifiers

PMID42888377

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.