Visual Acuity and Retinal Changes in South Australian Aborigines

Abstract

Eye examinations were carried out a four Aboriginal reserves. Of 361 Aboriginal adults tested, 64 had a visual defect (visual acuity of 6/9 or worse) in each eye, a prevalence of 18%, with an additional 79 (22%) with a similar loss of acuity in one eye only; these were more frequently seen at the urbanized reserve of Koonibba. Only one full blood Aboriginal child within the less urbanized communities had a reduced visual acuity, whereas seven (10%) part blood children at a more urbanized reserve had reduced vision in both eyes, with a further nine (13%) in one eye only, not unlike figures quoted for South Australian school children. Vascular changes in the fundus oculi were observed and occurred more often when hypertension and/or hyperglycaemia were present. They consisted of arteriovenous crossing changes (26%), swelling of the retinal veins (3%) and altered light reflex (41%) and were not infrequently seen in the younger adult (20% of adults under 30 years had AV crossing changes and 46% had widened light streak). Analysis suggests that, although hypertension and hyperglycaemia are related to retinal vascular changes, other factors, as yet unidentified, are present in the Aboriginal population under consideration.

Trachoma, cataracts and uncorrected refractive error are still important contributors to visual morbidity in two remote indigenous communities of the Northern Territory, Australia

“…In 1976, Edwards et al. reported that nearly one in five indigenous adults had a visual acuity of ≤6/9 or worse in the better eye, 10 in our study about one in three adults had a visual acuity of <6/12 in the better eye. Taylor reported the age‐specific prevalence of blindness, defined as visual impairment of ≤6/60, among 12 500 Aboriginal people.…”

“…There are limited data on the burden of visual morbidity within remote indigenous populations. In 1976 Edwardes reported that 17.7% of indigenous adults in several South Australian communities had a visual acuity of 6/9 or worse in the better eye 10 . In 1980 Taylor reported that the age‐specific prevalence of blindness among a cohort of 12, 500 Aboriginal people was: 1.1% in the fifth decade, 5.5% in the sixth decade, and 25.1% among those aged 60 and over 6,11 .…”

“…In 1976 Edwardes reported that 17.7% of indigenous adults in several South Australian communities had a visual acuity of 6/9 or worse in the better eye. 10 In 1980 Taylor reported that the age-specific prevalence of blindness among a cohort of 12, 500 Aboriginal people was: 1.1% in the fifth decade, 5.5% in the sixth decade, and 25.1% among those aged 60 and over. 6,11 In 1994 the prevalence of blindness in an Aboriginal population in South Australia was 1.5% across all ages; the major causes were trachoma, cataract and trauma.…”

Prevalence of trachoma and diabetes‐related eye disease among a cohort of adult Aboriginal patients screened over the period 1999–2004 in remote South Australia

“…In Aboriginal Australians the best estimates indicate a likely overall prevalence of two to four times higher than this, with considerable variability among communities 11,12 . DR was first reported in the Aboriginal population in a series of reports by Edwards and Wise 13,14 . Their team carried out investigations on a self‐selected adult South Australian Aboriginal population in the 1970s.…”

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in an Aboriginal Australian population: results from the Katherine Region Diabetic Retinopathy Study (KRDRS). Report no. 1

“…The first report of diabetic retinopathy in the Aboriginal population came from a series of papers by Edwards and Wise 5,6 . Their team carried out investigations on a self‐selected adult South Australian Aboriginal population in the 1970s.…”