New Study on Retinal Disease Burden Describes Racial and Regional Disparities

According to 2022 estimates, AMD is the most prevalent retinal disease in the United States. However, this should not downplay the severity of other conditions, such as diabetic retinopathy, DME and RVO, as prevalence rates are also high for each and barriers to care increase the disease burden. Photo: NEI. Click image to enlarge. The CDC’s Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System (VEHSS) conducts large population-based studies on ocular disease prevalence in the United States. Some of the latest reports have focused on the burden of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR), but other vision-threating retinal conditions were not evaluated. Recently, researchers from Johns Hopkins, Duke and UC San Francisco furthered the VEHSS’s efforts by assessing AMD, DR, diabetic macular edema (DME) and retinal vein occlusion (RVO).In their paper, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, the researchers specified that their objective was to obtain prevalence of disease estimates for 2022 and address health care disparities across various demographics. Information was collected using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Medicare fee-for-service claims and IBM MarketScan commercial insurance claims available through VEHSS, as well as eligible population-based studies.“For all conditions, disparities by race and ethnicity were observed, with AMD and RVO being more prevalent among white individuals and diabetes-related eye conditions being more prevalent among Black and Hispanic individuals,” they explained in their paper. “Prevalence of each retinal condition also varied across the United States’ states and counties, although estimates had overlapping uncertainty intervals.”Here are the reported 2022 estimated results:AMD had a prevalence estimate of 5,677 per 100,000 peopleDR had an estimate of 2,710 per 100,000DME had an estimate of 317 per 100,000RVO had an estimate of 214 per 100,000White individuals were 1.7 times more likely to develop AMD compared to Black individuals and two times more likely to develop RVO compared to Hispanic individuals.Black individuals were two times more likely to develop DR and 4.6 times more likely to develop DME compared to white individuals.Hispanic individuals were 1.8 times more likely to develop DR and 3.7 times more likely to develop DME compared to Caucasians.Washington, DC, had the lowest AMD prevalence per capita (3,497 per 100,000) and Rhode Island had the highest (7,214 per 100,000).Montana had the lowest DR prevalence (1,654 per 100,000) and Mississippi had the highest (3,607 per 100,000).Vermont had the lowest DME prevalence (126 per 100,000), and Washington, DC, had the highest (504 per 100,000).Lastly, Hawaii had the lowest RVO prevalence (157 per 100,000) and Rhode Island had the highest (273 per 100,000).These results highlighted the disparities in certain groups, yet there is another result that showcases the need for more retina specialists in the nation. In their study, researchers observed the estimated ratio of patients to retina specialists throughout each state.“This study reported a maldistribution of retinal specialists for AMD, DR, DME and RVO, with patient-to-specialist ratios ranging from 30 to 6,345 across the United States,” wrote the authors. “Currently, there is no guidance for the optimal patient to specialist ratio. Although the patient-to-retina specialist ratios in this study were calculated from prevalence estimates and do not account for co-occurring retinal conditions, these results highlight the demand for retina specialists across the United States and the regional disparities in access to retinal care.”Researchers concluded that high prevalence rates of blindness from retinal diseases are rising with diabetes rates and the aging population in the United States. They end by reiterating the importance of retinal care and mention how screening initiatives would be beneficial for at-risk communities.Click here for the journal source. Liu TYA, Ko S, Rosettie K, et al. Prevalence and health care disparities of retinal conditions: A meta-analysis. JAMA Ophthalmology. March 19, 2026. [Epub ahead of print].  This article was developed by the editorial staff in conjunction with experts in the field. In the process, AI may have been among the editorial tools used to meet the goals of human editors, who approved all content.