Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification database

Background/aims Within the UK, there are approximately 340 000 people who are registered as sight impaired (SI) or severely Sight Impaired (SSI), mainly due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic eye disease (DED) and glaucoma. This study aimed to explore the association between certifi...

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Main Authors: Tunde Peto, Augusto Azuara-Blanco, Jonathan Jackson, David Wright, Natasha Moore, Laura Cushley, Roseleen McCann, Tanya Moutray
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2025-03-01
Series:BMJ Open Ophthalmology
Online Access:https://bmjophth.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001868.full
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author Tunde Peto
Augusto Azuara-Blanco
Jonathan Jackson
David Wright
Natasha Moore
Laura Cushley
Roseleen McCann
Tanya Moutray
author_facet Tunde Peto
Augusto Azuara-Blanco
Jonathan Jackson
David Wright
Natasha Moore
Laura Cushley
Roseleen McCann
Tanya Moutray
author_sort Tunde Peto
collection DOAJ
description Background/aims Within the UK, there are approximately 340 000 people who are registered as sight impaired (SI) or severely Sight Impaired (SSI), mainly due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic eye disease (DED) and glaucoma. This study aimed to explore the association between certification of visual impairment (CVI) and socioeconomic deprivation.Methods Data from all CVI forms across Northern Ireland (NI) between 2018 to 2022 were used for analysis. Data collected included age, sex, visual acuity (logMAR), postcode and certification category. Deprivation measure was obtained using the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (NIMDM17). Patients were allocated a quintile from 1 (most deprived) to 5 (least deprived).Results Of the 1863 patients with VI who met the inclusion criteria, 1798 (97%) had postal codes recorded and therefore were allocated an NIMDM17 score. There were 755 patients in total, which were grouped into the most deprived and least deprived areas (357 and 398, respectively). Results showed that patients living in more deprived areas were significantly more likely to be certified as SI/SSI at a younger age than those living in less deprived areas (80.97 vs 85.77, respectively, p<0.001). This was seen in patients with AMD (85.1 vs 87.5, p=0.005) and DED (63.9 vs 69.8, p=0.013) but not in glaucoma (80.9 vs 84.1, p=0.073).Conclusion This study has shown that patients living in more deprived areas are more likely to be certified as SI or SSI at a significantly younger age compared with patients from less deprived areas across the certification database.
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spelling doaj-art-8c8b46c01c954842b4cc7cb32f3609dd2025-08-20T02:54:04ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Ophthalmology2397-32692025-03-0110110.1136/bmjophth-2024-001868Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification databaseTunde Peto0Augusto Azuara-Blanco1Jonathan Jackson2David Wright3Natasha Moore4Laura Cushley5Roseleen McCann6Tanya Moutray7Centre for Public Health, Queen`s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKCentre for Public Health, Queen`s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKDepartment of Ophthalmology, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKCentre for Public Health, Queen`s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKCentre for Public Health, Queen`s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKCentre for Public Health, Queen`s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKDepartment of Ophthalmology, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKDepartment of Ophthalmology, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UKBackground/aims Within the UK, there are approximately 340 000 people who are registered as sight impaired (SI) or severely Sight Impaired (SSI), mainly due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic eye disease (DED) and glaucoma. This study aimed to explore the association between certification of visual impairment (CVI) and socioeconomic deprivation.Methods Data from all CVI forms across Northern Ireland (NI) between 2018 to 2022 were used for analysis. Data collected included age, sex, visual acuity (logMAR), postcode and certification category. Deprivation measure was obtained using the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2017 (NIMDM17). Patients were allocated a quintile from 1 (most deprived) to 5 (least deprived).Results Of the 1863 patients with VI who met the inclusion criteria, 1798 (97%) had postal codes recorded and therefore were allocated an NIMDM17 score. There were 755 patients in total, which were grouped into the most deprived and least deprived areas (357 and 398, respectively). Results showed that patients living in more deprived areas were significantly more likely to be certified as SI/SSI at a younger age than those living in less deprived areas (80.97 vs 85.77, respectively, p<0.001). This was seen in patients with AMD (85.1 vs 87.5, p=0.005) and DED (63.9 vs 69.8, p=0.013) but not in glaucoma (80.9 vs 84.1, p=0.073).Conclusion This study has shown that patients living in more deprived areas are more likely to be certified as SI or SSI at a significantly younger age compared with patients from less deprived areas across the certification database.https://bmjophth.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001868.full
spellingShingle Tunde Peto
Augusto Azuara-Blanco
Jonathan Jackson
David Wright
Natasha Moore
Laura Cushley
Roseleen McCann
Tanya Moutray
Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification database
BMJ Open Ophthalmology
title Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification database
title_full Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification database
title_fullStr Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification database
title_full_unstemmed Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification database
title_short Associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation: a study using data from the regional Northern Ireland sight impairment certification database
title_sort associations between certification of visual impairment and socioeconomic deprivation a study using data from the regional northern ireland sight impairment certification database
url https://bmjophth.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001868.full
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