Incidence of Legal Blindness From Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Denmark: Year 2000 to 2010

Purpose

To report incidence rates of legal blindness from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other causes in Denmark from years 2000 to 2010 in the age group at risk of AMD aged 50 years and older.

Design

Population-based observational registry study.

Methods

settings: Membership register of the Danish Association of the Blind, the primary admission criterion of which is best-corrected visual acuity 0.1 (20/200) or lower in a person's better-seeing eye. study population: A total of 11 848 incident cases of legal blindness from a population of citizens aged ≥50 years numbering 1.71 million in 2000 and 1.87 million in 2010 with free access to a single-payer public health care system. main outcome measures: Incidence rates of legal blindness from AMD from 2000 to 2010.

Results

The incidence rate of legal blindness attributable to AMD in citizens aged ≥50 years decreased from 52.2 cases per year per 100 000 in 2000 to 25.7 cases per year per 100 000 in 2010, corresponding to a reduction of 50% (95% confidence interval [CI₉₅]: 45%-56%, P < .0001, adjusted for age), the bulk of the reduction occurring after 2006. The incidence of legal blindness from causes other than AMD decreased by 33% (CI₉₅: 21%-44%, P < .0001), most of the reduction occurring between 2000 and 2006.

Conclusion

From 2000 to 2010 the incidence of legal blindness from AMD fell to half the baseline incidence. The bulk of the reduction occurred after the introduction of intravitreally injected inhibitors of vascular endothelial growth factor in 2006.