Causes of blindness and partial sight in the Bradford Metropolitan District from 1980 to 1985

A retrospective review of the BD8 forms submitted for the period 1980-85 in the Bradford Metropolitan District was conducted to ascertain the incidence and causes of blindness and partial sight. A total of 1485 cases were registered in this period of which 755 (50%) were included in the Blind register and 730 (49.2%) in the Partially Sighted register. Age-related macular degeneration was the most important cause of visual handicap, accounting for 43.9% of all registrations, followed by glaucoma (16.2%), diabetic retinopathy (6.3%), myopic degeneration (6.1%), optic atrophy (4.4%), cerebrovascular disease (3.8%), cataracts (3.6%), retinal vascular occlusive disease (3.2%), corneal opacities (3.0%), congenital anomalies (2.7%), retinitis pigmentosa/tapeto-retinal degeneration (1.9%), retinal detachment (1.8%) and others (3.1%). The ratio of female to male registrations was 1.8:1. Eighty-four per cent of this sample population was above the age of 60 years at the time of registration.