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목적 : Blindness is an important public health issue. The incidence of blindness in South Korea is unclear. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the incidence of blindness in South Korea.
방법 : Patients confirmed as having legal blindness based on the worse- and better-seeing eyes between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2013, were included. The Korean National Health Insurance Service database was used (n = 47,516,098). Blindness was defined as best-corrected visual acuity in the worse- and better-seeing eyes of <20/400. The mean incidence rate of blindness during the 12-year period was estimated. The population of South Korea was estimated using census data in 2005 and 2010.
결과 : We identified 195 004 and 20 492 cases of newly developed legal blindness based on the worse- and better-seeing eyes, respectively, and the mean incidences of blindness were 34.2 and 3.6 cases/100 000 person-years, respectively. The prevalences of blindness based on the worse- and better-seeing eyes were 425.3 and 57.7 cases/100 000 persons, respectively. The incidence of blindness based on the worse-seeing eye was higher in men than in women overall and in each age group. Additionally, it showed an increase with age and a decreasing trend from 2002 to 2013.
결론 : The estimated population-based incidences of blindness based on the worse- and better-seeing eyes were 34.2 and 3.6 cases/100 000 person-years, respectively. The findings of our study will help in the assessment of the blindness-related socioeconomic burden and in healthcare planning.
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