Survey Reveals the Extent of Prejudice Against the Visually Disabled

Social aspects in life can be difficult to handle for those who are visually disabled. These people face significantly more adversity in their lives compared to the average healthy human. Photo: CDC. Click image to enlarge. Living with a disability poses its own challenges, especially for those who can’t see. It is difficult for these individuals to travel, work and navigate basic aspects of life. In a recent study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore analyzed data from a national survey to understand the scope of discrimination towards visually disabled patients.For their study, the team of researchers used results from the 2023 National Health Interview Survey. They only included submissions from adults residing in the United States. There was a proportion of subjects who weren’t visually disabled; therefore, their experience with discrimination and hypervigilance was compared to those who were disabled. Additionally, two scales—the Everyday Discrimination Scale and the Heightened Vigilance Scale—were used by the researchers to assess how each visually disabled subject’s background factored into the level of prejudice they received. Findings were published in American Journal of Ophthalmology.In the published article, the researchers summarized how they used the Everyday Discrimination Scale and the Heightened Vigilance Scale. The former assesses how often subjects perceived they were being treated poorly. Subjects were posed the question, “In your day-to-day life, how often have any of the following things happened to you?” Then, grading on a five-point Likert scale, the subjects provided their answers to five different events in which they could have possibly been discriminated against. A Likert scale answer of 0 meant that the subject experienced the event of discrimination at least once a week, and an answer of 4 meant that the subject never experienced anything.The Heightened Vigilance Scale is slightly similar. This measures how commonly a subject expects to be discriminated against in a situation. They were posed the question, “In your day-to-day life, how often do you do the following things?” Again, subjects answered the question for four different scenarios, grading on the same five-point scale (0 = at least once a week, 4 = never).A total of 28,615 submissions from adults were included in this study. Among them, 54.3% were women, and 33.6% identified as being a part of a racial or ethnic group. Subjects representing the visually disabled group made up approximately 19.6% of submissions.“Given our findings of increased discrimination and heightened vigilance among people with visual disabilities and the known negative outcomes among those experiencing discrimination and hypervigilance,” wrote the authors in their AJO paper, “addressing these perceptions and targeting interventions to people with visual disabilities represents an avenue for further health and social improvements in this population.”Both Everyday Discrimination Scale and Heightened Vigilance Scale scores were significantly higher for subjects from the visually disabled group. Their average Everyday Discrimination Scale score was 3.3 compared to 2.3 from other submissions, and their average Heightened Vigilance Scale score was 4.1 compared to 3.2 from other submissions.After separating scale scores based on age, sex, race/ethnicity, household income, education level and number of chronic conditions, the researchers discovered that each category was significantly associated with higher odds of experiencing discrimination and hypervigilance when the subject was visually disabled. These subjects reported 74% higher odds of experiencing perceived discrimination and 61% higher odds of anticipating discrimination. Although subgroup analysis of age and sex showed significantly higher odds of discrimination, analysis of ethnicity was limited due to a small sample size.“The significant associations between visual disability, discrimination and hypervigilance reveal an opportunity for targeted social interventions,” concluded the authors in their paper. “This can manifest across multiple sectors, such as education, healthcare, employment, and transportation, to address the discrimination and hypervigilance faced by people with visual disabilities.”Click here for the journal source. Akarapimand P, Lin JC, Woreta F. Perceived discrimination, hypervigilance, and visual disabilities among United States adults: An analysis of national survey data. Am J Ophthalm. June 19, 2025. [Epub ahead of print].