The report provides background to the College’s interest and involvement in ophthalmic public health, the rationale for funding two Ophthalmic Public Health Research Fellows, and summarises the research programme that was undertaken by the Fellows under the supervision of the Principal Investigator at the University of Leeds in collaboration with the College.
The report also provides a list of project outcomes and research outputs from this project.
The Ophthalmic Public Health Research Project aimed to deliver high quality research outputs in order to:
The objectives of the project set out in the contracted scope of work were to:
Eye health is a public health issue. Visual impairment affects about 10% of people aged 65 to
75, and 20% of those aged 75 or older.1 Between 20 and 50% of older people have undetected visual
impairment and the majority of these have correctable problems due to refractive errors or cataracts.2
10% of people aged 65 to 75
20% of people aged over 75
...of older people have undetected visual impairment
1 Evans BJW, Rowlands G. Correctable visual impairment in older people: a major unmet need. Ophthal Physiol Opt 2004;24:161e80.
2 Wormald RPL, Wright LA, Courtney P, Beaumont B, Haines AP. Visual problems in the elderly population and implications for services. BMJ 1992; 304:1226e9.
In summary, the outcomes of this project were:
Given these outcomes the Ophthalmic Public Health Research Group has proposed further research that might improve the capacity to:
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