Indigenous eye health measures 2018

Measure 3.9: The number of Indigenous Australians who required treatment for refractive error and had spectacle or contact lens correction, as a proportion of those who had spectacle or contact lens correction plus those who had refractive error as a main cause of vision impairment or blindness.

Treatment of refractive error through the provision of spectacles is a low cost, effective intervention.

• In 2016, treatment rates for refractive error were higher for non-Indigenous than Indigenous Australians, 94% and 82%, respectively.
• Treatment rates for refractive error for Indigenous Australians in Outer regional (70%) and Very remote (75%) areas were significantly lower than in Major cities (87%), the reference region.
• The treatment rate for non-Indigenous Australians was significantly higher than Indigenous Australians in Inner regional, Outer regional and Very remote areas.