What to know
See which states have the highest and lowest prevalence rates of visual acuity loss or blindness based on VEHSS composite prevalence estimates.
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Ten states with the highest rates of visual acuity loss
- The state with the highest prevalence rate is West Virginia, where more than 1 in 30 residents have visual acuity loss.
- Mississippi, Washington (DC), Arkansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Alabama, Nevada, and Florida have the next highest prevalence rates of visual acuity loss, ranging from 2.7% to 3.3%.
Ten states with the lowest rates of visual acuity loss
- The state with the lowest rate of visual acuity loss is Maine, where 1 in 75 residents suffer vision loss.
- Utah, Iowa, North Dakota, Alaska, Minnesota, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin round out the rest of the top 10 states with the lowest rates of visual acuity loss.
Data and methods
- These data are from VEHSS composite prevalence estimates, which use multiple sources of data available in VEHSS to estimate how many people have visual acuity loss of 20/40 or worse in their better-seeing eye that cannot be corrected with glasses or contacts.
- This type of vision loss is measured using an eye chart and is usually caused by age-related eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma.
- These estimates do not include other types of vision loss such as contrast sensitivity or visual field loss.
- These rates represent crude prevalence estimates, meaning that they represent the actual percentage of the population estimated to have visual acuity loss.
Keep Reading:
Why Vision Loss is a Public Health Problem
Explore these data in the VEHSS data explorer
You can explore these estimates and other data in detail in the VEHSS data explorer:
- Select Vision Problems and Blindness -> Vision Loss and Blindness -> VEHSS Composite Prevalence Estimate: Visual Acuity Loss.
- Then choose either blindness or any visual acuity loss, and standard or detailed age groups.
- National, state, and county estimates are available by age, sex, and race/ethnicity.
- You can also show either crude or adjusted prevalence estimates by selecting the appropriate Data Type filter.