Self-reported causes of eye or sight problems
- Measure 1.2.2
- The main causes of vision impairment and blindness (vision loss) for First Nations people, as a proportion of those with vision loss.
Most of the vision loss experienced by First Nations people is potentially preventable. Measures of the prevalence of vision impairment and blindness are important for monitoring changes in eye health over time and identifying the need for services (Figure 7 and Figure 8).
Figure 7: Self-reported causes of eye or sight problems by Indigenous status, 2018–19
Self-reported causes of eye or sight problems by Indigenous status, 2018–19
This grouped horizontal bar chart compares the main causes of sight problems in 2018–19, by Indigenous status. The chart shows that First Nations people were over twice as likely as non-Indigenous Australians to report blindness, and almost twice as likely to report having a cataract as causes of sight problems, based on age-standardised rates.
First Nations people were 2.4 times as likely to report blindness that non-Indigenous Australians.
Figure 8: Self-reported causes of eye or sight problems amongst First Nations people by sex, 2018–19
Self-reported causes of eye or sight problems amongst First Nations people by sex, 2018–19
This grouped horizontal bar chart compares the main causes of sight problems for First Nations people in 2018–19, by sex. The chart shows that the top 3 causes of sight problems reported by First Nations people were long sightedness (22%), short sightedness (16%) and cataract (1.4%). The prevalence of long-sightedness was higher for Indigenous females than Indigenous males (25% and 18%, respectively).
- In 2018–19, the main causes of sight problems reported by First Nations people were long-sightedness (31%), short-sightedness (20%), and cataract (2.4%).
- The prevalence of long-sightedness and short-sightedness was higher for First Nations females (25% and 20%, respectively) than for First Nations males (18% and 11%, respectively).
- Adjusting for age, First Nations Australians were more likely than non-Indigenous Australians to report blindness (2.4 times as likely) or having a cataract (1.7 times as likely) as a cause of sight problems.