Trends in paediatric visual impairment in England and Wales: a retrospective study (2009-2022)

The Certifications of Visual Impairment (VI) system was implemented to quantify and classify the incidence of visual impairment amongst the England and Wales population. This retrospective study investigates the trend in the certification of VI amongst children aged <16 years old.

CVI data provided by the Certifications Office, was extracted and assessed to identify the various causes of mild-moderate (SI) and severe (SSI) visual impairment between 2009-2022. The data was classified into 11 broad groups which were similar in pathology. Incidence data was calculated using the official Census data. Byar's method was used to calculate confidence intervals to determine significant changes in the number of new registrations in 4 early intervals amongst conditions that recorded >5 registrations in every year or the study.

Between 2009-2022 there were 18,387 new registrations (10,915 SI and 7472 SSI). Disorders of the CNS (4145), retinal disorders (2990), and congenital abnormalities of the eye (4491) made up nearly 2/3 of the registrations. Amongst SI registrations, there was a significant increase in these 3 groups over the 13-year period excluding the first year of the Covid pandemic. However, there was a significant decrease in SSI registrations for congenital abnormalities.

Overall, there is an increasing number of children registered SI/SSI in England and Wales. The main causes are: disorders of the CNS, retinal disorders and congenital abnormalities of the eye. This may be due to increasing awareness, early screening and advancements in genomic testing.