VISION IMPAIRMENT:  RACIAL & ETHNIC DIFFERENCES

Based on findings from The Lighthouse National Survey on Vision Loss (The 

Lighthouse Inc., 1995), among persons age 45 and older,  those who report some 

form of vision problem are more likely to be non white (23%) in comparison to 

those who report no vision impairment (17%). 

African Americans have a higher rate of legal blindness than Caucasians, but 

much of this difference may be due to poor access to appropriate eye care 

services (Prevent Blindness America, 1994, p.3). 

The Baltimore Eye Survey found that the overall age adjusted rates of visual 

impairment among African Americans was twice that of whites (Tielsch, Sommer, 

Witt, Katz, & Royall, 1990). 

Data from the 1991 92 Survey of Income and Program Participation indicate that 

a higher proportion of Blacks have visual impairments than do Whites.  Although 

Blacks comprise 12% of the U.S. population, among persons with visual 

impairments 18% are Black and among those with a severe visual impairment 

21% are Black (Schmeidler & Halfmann, 1998a, p.539). 

Glaucoma 

Based on findings from the Baltimore Eye Survey, the prevalence of blindness 

due to glaucoma is 4 to 6 times higher among blacks than Caucasians (Tielsch, 

Sommer, Witt, Katz, & Royall, 1990). 

Almost 4% of Blacks (409,643) (age 40 and over) are reported to have glaucoma 

as compared to about 1.7% of Whites (1.6 million) and 1.5% of Hispanics 

(131,654) (Prevent Blindness America, 2002). 

Research on a population based sample found that glaucoma is the leading cause 

of blindness among Hispanics (Rodriguez, 2002).  

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