Eye Diseases
Visual Impairment and Blindness
Refractive Errors
Eye Injuries
Ophthalmologists
Eye Diseases
Q: How many people in the United States have cataracts?
A: Cataracts affect more than 24.4 million Americans age 40 and older. By age 75, approximately half of all Americans have cataracts.[1]
Q: How many people in the United States have glaucoma?
A: Glaucoma affects more than 2.7 million Americans age 40 and older.[2]
Q: How many people in the United States have age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?
A: Nearly 2.1 million Americans age 50 and older have late AMD, the stage that can lead to severe vision impairment. In 2010, 9.1 million Americans had early AMD.[3] By age 80, one in ten Americans has late AMD, which is more common in women than in men.[4]
Q: How many people in the United States have diabetic retinopathy?
A: Diabetic retinopathy affects nearly 7.7 million Americans age 40 and older.[5]
The number of people in the United States with diabetes is increasing. More than 29 million Americans have diabetes. About 27% of those with diabetes—8.1 million Americans—do not know they have the disease. Diabetes affects 12.3% of adults age 20 and older.[6]
Q: How many people in the United States have dry eye?
A: The prevalence of dry eye syndrome increases with age. An estimated 3.2 million women age 50 and over and 1.68 million men age 50 and over are affected by dry eye syndrome.[7],[8]
Q: How many corneal transplants are performed in the United States annually?
A: There were 48,229 corneal transplants performed in the United States in 2013. Since 1961, more than 1,000,000 men, women and children ranging in age from nine days to 100+ years, have had their sight restored through a corneal transplant.[9]
Q: How many people in the United States get eye infections each year?
A: Nearly a million eye infections that require a trip to the doctor or hospital happen each year, many of them related to contact lens use.[10]
Visual Impairment and Blindness
Q: How many people in the United States are legally blind?
A: Nearly 1.3 million Americans age 40 and older are legally blind.[11] (Defined as best-corrected visual acuity worse than or equal to 20/200 in the better-seeing eye.)
Q: How many people in the United States have low vision?
A: More than 2.9 million Americans age 40 and older have low vision.[12] (Defined as best-corrected visual acuity worse than 20/40; this number excludes those who are legally blind.)
Q: How many people in the United States are visually impaired?
A: Nearly 4.2 million Americans age 40 and older are visually impaired.[13] (Defined as best-corrected visual acuity worse than 20/40 in the better-seeing eye; this number includes both those with low vision and those who are legally blind.)
Q: How prevalent is color blindness in the United States?
A: Approximately 8% of men and 0.5% of women among populations with Northern European ancestry have the most common form of color blindness that makes it hard to see red or green. The incidence of this condition is lower in almost all other populations studied.[14]
Refractive Errors
Q: How many people in the United States have myopia (nearsightedness)?
A: More than 34 million Americans age 40 and older are myopic, or 23.9% of that population.[15] (Myopia defined as 1.0 diopters or more.)
Q: How many people in the United States have hyperopia (farsightedness)?
A: Nearly 14.2 million Americans age 40 and older are hyperopic, or 8.4% of that population.[16] (Hyperopia defined as 3.0 diopters or more.)
Q: How common is astigmatism in the United States?
A: This refractive error occurs in about 1 in 3 people and may occur in combination with near- or farsightedness. It causes blurry vision and is due to the cornea being less than perfectly rounded.[17]
Q: How many Americans wear some type of corrective eyewear?
A: More than 150 million Americans use corrective eyewear to compensate for refractive errors. Americans spend more than $15 billion each year on eyewear.[18]
Q: How many people wear contact lenses in the United States?
A: Approximately 37 million Americans wear contact lenses.[19]
Q: How many refractive surgical procedures (such as LASIK and PRK) are performed annually in the United States?
A: Approximately 800,000 procedures were performed in 2010.[20]
Eye Injuries
Q: How many people in the United States suffer eye injuries each year?
A: Each year an estimated 2.4 million eye injuries occur in the United States.[21] Using protective eyewear can prevent 90% of all eye injuries.[22]
Q: Who is most likely to be injured?
A: Nearly 35% of all eye injuries occur in people 18 to 45 years of age.[19]
Q: Where do most eye injuries occur?
Accidents involving common household products cause 125,000 eye injuries each year.[23]
More than 2,000 people injure their eyes at work each day. Of the total amount of work-related injuries, 10-20% will cause temporary or permanent vision loss.[24]
Q: What are the most common eye injuries?
A: A foreign body in the eye is the most common type of injury, accounting for 35% of the total. Open wounds and contusions each account for about 25%, and the remaining injuries are burns.[21]
Ophthalmologists
Q: How many ophthalmologists are there in the United States?
A: There are 19,216 active ophthalmologists in the United States.[25]
Q: How many ophthalmologists are there worldwide (including the United States)?
A: There are approximately 213,459 ophthalmologists worldwide.[26]
[18] Vision Problems in the U.S.: Prevalence of Adult Vision Impairment and Age-Related Eye Disease in America. Prevent Blindness America and the National Eye Institute, 2008.
[25] American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2014