Contents
Scope of the Problem and Demographic Shift in Population: Visual |
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Disease Incidence and Prevalence in the Elderly Population . . . . . . . . . . . |
1 |
Gwen Sterns |
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Refractive Error in the Geriatric Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
7 |
Hilary Beaver |
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Cataracts and Cataract Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
15 |
Hilary Beaver |
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Glaucoma in the Elderly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
27 |
Hilary Beaver |
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Diabetic Retinopathy and Its Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
37 |
Neil M. Bressler |
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Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Its Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
49 |
Neil M. Bressler |
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Low Vision: When Vision Fails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
59 |
Gwen K. Sterns |
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Visual Loss and Depression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
65 |
Andrew G. Lee |
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Visual Loss and Dementia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
71 |
Andrew G. Lee |
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Visual Loss and Hearing Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
77 |
Andrew G. Lee |
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Visual Loss and Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
83 |
Andrew G. Lee and David Steven Friedman |
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xiv |
Contents |
Elder Abuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . 89 |
Hilary Beaver |
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Functional Impairment and Visual Loss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. 99 |
Gwen K. Sterns |
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The Research Agenda-Setting Project (RASP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. 105 |
David Steven Friedman and Andrew G. Lee |
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Screening for Comorbidities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. 109 |
Sushma Yalamanchili |
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Refer Comorbidities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. 115 |
Sushma Yalamanchili |
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Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. 121 |
Contributors
Hilary Beaver, MD Department of Ophthalmology, Weill Cornell Medical College, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
Neil M. Bressler, MD Department of Ophthalmology, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
David Steven Friedman, MD, MPH, PhD Johns Hopkins University, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, USA
Andrew G. Lee, MD Department of Ophthalmology, Weill Cornell Medical College, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
David H. Solomon, MD David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
Gwen K. Sterns, MD Department of Ophthalmology, Rochester General Hospital, and University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, USA
Sushma Yalamanchili, MD Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY, USA
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Scope of the Problem and Demographic Shift in Population: Visual Disease Incidence
and Prevalence in the Elderly Population
Gwen Sterns
Medical Knowledge
The increasing number of elderly persons in the United States presents a rising challenge to our medical system and especially to our ophthalmologists. We see this due to the aging of the post-World War II baby boomers and the increasing life expectancies (a high of 76.9 years in 2000). According to a 2006 Census Bureau Report, the US population aged 65 and over is expected to double in size within the next 25 years. They also report that by 2030, almost 20% of Americans, some 72 million people, will be 65 years or older. The age group 85 and older is projected to double from 4.7 million in 2003 to 9.6 million in 2030 and by 2050 it is expected to increase to 20.9 million.1 This is the fastest growing segment of the US population.
The dramatic demographic shift in the United States toward an older population has impacted the specialty of ophthalmology disproportionately as many common eye disorders occur with increasing frequency and severity with older age.
Ophthalmology is one specialty that will be significantly affected by this demographic shift. As our population ages, we are seeing an increase in agerelated eye diseases (AREDs) such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, diabetic retinopathy, and primary open-angle glaucoma2 and increased visual impairment and blindness. Early recognition and treatment can help prevent vision loss in many of these patients and thus help to prevent and reduce disability from vision loss.
Case Vignette
A 70-year-old African-American man with a history of diabetes mellitus and chronic open-angle glaucoma can no longer safely drive his car. His night vision has deteriorated over the past few months and he damaged his car backing into
G. Sterns (*)
Department of Ophthalmology, Rochester General Hospital and University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, USA
A.G. Lee, H. Beaver (eds.), Geriatric Ophthalmology, DOI 10.1007/b137372_1, |
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Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, LLC 2009 |
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