There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
To estimate the prevalence and distribution of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
in the United States by age, race/ethnicity, and gender.
Summary prevalence estimates of drusen 125 microm or larger, neovascular AMD, and
geographic atrophy were prepared separately for black and white persons in 5-year
age intervals starting at 40 years. The estimated rates were based on a meta-analysis
of recent population-based studies in the United States, Australia, and Europe. These
rates were applied to 2000 US Census data and to projected US population figures for
2020 to estimate the number of the US population with drusen and AMD.
The overall prevalence of neovascular AMD and/or geographic atrophy in the US population
40 years and older is estimated to be 1.47% (95% confidence interval, 1.38%-1.55%),
with 1.75 million citizens having AMD. The prevalence of AMD increased dramatically
with age, with more than 15% of the white women older than 80 years having neovascular
AMD and/or geographic atrophy. More than 7 million individuals had drusen measuring
125 microm or larger and were, therefore, at substantial risk of developing AMD. Owing
to the rapidly aging population, the number of persons having AMD will increase by
50% to 2.95 million in 2020. Age-related macular degeneration was far more prevalent
among white than among black persons.
Age-related macular degeneration affects more than 1.75 million individuals in the
United States. Owing to the rapid aging of the US population, this number will increase
to almost 3 million by 2020.