Skip directly to search Skip directly to A to Z list Skip directly to page options Skip directly to site content

Healthy Vision Month — May 2016

Weekly / May 6, 2016 / 65(17);433


Article Metrics

Views equals page views plus PDF downloads

Views:

Citations:

View suggested citation

May is Healthy Vision Month, a national observance devoted to encouraging persons to make vision and eye health a priority. During this month, CDC’s Vision Health Initiative in the Division of Diabetes Translation partners with the National Eye Institute’s National Eye Health Education Program to educate the public about vision loss prevention and eye health promotion. May is also Older Americans Month, which offers an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of older adults’ health and well-being to their independence.

In recognition of these two observances, CDC’s Vision Health Initiative recently examined the state-specific annual prevalence of falls among persons aged ≥65 years with and without self-reported severe vision impairment. The study’s findings, reported in this issue, indicate a higher prevalence of falls among older adults with severe vision impairment, as well as wide variation in that prevalence among states. These findings suggest that among the approximately 2.8 million persons aged ≥65 years reporting severe vision impairment in 2014 (1), an estimated 1.3 million likely experienced a fall in the previous year. The findings also underscore the importance of each state implementing effective strategies to improve vision health and reduce falls, especially among older adults with severe vision impairment.

Because many common eye diseases have no immediate symptoms, early detection and timely treatment are important, as is the use of proper eye-safety practices. Developing community-based interventions for populations at high risk might reduce identified disparities in vision health. More information about vision and eye health is available from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/visionhealth) and the National Eye Institute (https://nei.nih.gov/hvm).

Reference

  1. Census Bureau. Disability characteristics. Suitland, MD: US Department of Commerce, Census Bureau; 2016. http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_12_1YR_S1810&prodType=table

Suggested citation for this article: Healthy Vision Month — May 2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:433. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6517a1.

Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of the date of publication.

All HTML versions of MMWR articles are generated from final proofs through an automated process. This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr) and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables.

Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.

Format:
TOP
window.CDC.Policy.External.init();