Two thirds of both the blind and visually impaired are female.
One explanation for this is that, on average, women live longer than men, particularly in developed countries, making them more likely to develop age-related degenerative vision-threatening conditions.
Their longer lifespan places women at a greater risk for the development of such age-related eye diseases such as macular degeneration and cataract. In fact, cataract in the United States affects 1.5 times as many women as men. While much of the gender difference in cataract incidence is attributable to women living longer, it is also known that women, independent of age, are intrinsically at somewhat higher risk than men of developing cortical cataract.
Women are twice as likely as men to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD); the lifetime risk for getting AMD is 6% for females and only 3% for males. As with cataracts, the difference is attributed to women, on average, having longer life spans.
Vision care professionals should emphasize the need for older women in particular to schedule regular check-ups.
Dry Eye and Tear Film Disorders
Dry eye and tear film disorders are now being more comprehensively viewed as problems not merely with tear production, but also with tear film consistency and with eyelid function in spreading tears and lubricating and resurfacing the conjunctiva and cornea; thus, the broader disease description of tear dysfunction or ocular surface dysfunction is now preferred. Among individuals in their 50s, the prevalence of moderate-to-severe tear dysfunction is estimated to be 6% of women, compared to 3% of men. At advanced ages, the figures rise to about 10% of women and 6% of men.
Tear dysfunction states are more common in women for a variety of reasons, including hormonal changes of menses, pregnancy, and menopause; irritation from long-term eye cosmetic use; greater frequency of contact lens wear; and higher incidence of cosmetic eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty).
Sjögren’s syndrome, in which tear production is severely reduced, resulting in ocular dryness and irritation, affects between 2 million and 3 million individuals in the United States, more than 90% of whom are women.
There are a number of common irritative or vision-compromising ocular diseases that are more common in women than in men. Fuchs’ dystrophy, for example, a slowly progressing corneal disease, is slightly more common in women than men, as are iridocorneal endothelial syndrome (ICE) and optic neuritis, which strikes about 25,000 Americans per year, primarily women.
Women’s Health and Attaining Healthy Sight Today
It is women who are often responsible for supervising and coordinating health-and eye-care for their families. By making women a focus for Healthy Sight Counseling, not only will the ocular health needs of this important risk group be better served, but by ripple effect this enhanced focus can be expected to trickle down to spouses and children, making the entire family the target for Healthy Sight.
References:
- Hiller R, Sperduto RD, Ederer F. Epidemiologic associations with cataract
in the 1971-1972 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am
J Epidemiol. 1983;118:239-249.
- National Eye Institute, US National Institutes of Health. Facts about the
cornea and corneal disease. Available at: http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/cornealdisease/index.asp#e.
Accessed July 23, 2008.
- Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation. Available at: http://www.sjogrens.org/syndrome/faqs.html.
Accessed July 23, 2008.
- West SK, Valmadrid CT. Epidemiology of risk factors for age related cataract. Surv
Ophthalmol. 1995;39:323-334.
- Women's Eye Health.org. Causes of vision loss. Available at: http://www.womenseyehealth.org/causes/index.php.
Accessed July 23, 2008.