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Statistics for AMD

  • In 2001, Statistics Canada showed 610,950 Canadians identified themselves as having seriously impaired vision. This was defined as difficulty seeing ordinary newsprint or clearly seeing a face from four metres distance.1
  • There are four main causes of age-related vision loss in Canada: age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and cataract.2
  • Approximately 2.1 million Canadians suffer from AMD.3
    • Equivalent to the number of Canadians with diabetes (2 million)
    • More than the number of Canadians affected by glaucoma or cataracts combined
    • More than four times the number of Canadians with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease combined
  • Each year, 78,000 Canadians are diagnosed with AMD, a number expected to triple within the next 25 years.4
  • By the age of 65, 1 in 9 Canadians will experience severe vision loss and by 85, this ratio is expected to increase to 1 in 4.5
  • In 1996, 56.5 per cent of Canadians who had severe visual impairment were aged 75 and over. By 2016, nearly 1 million Canadians will fall into this category.6
  • More than 2.7 million Canadians can expect severe vision loss during their lifetime.7

IMPACT ON QUALITY OF LIFE
  • Vision loss is currently Canadian’s most feared disability. More than 85 per cent of Canadians feel that provincial funding for vision treatment and cures is “very important”.8
  • Average patient would be willing to trade off 30 per cent of remaining life to regain vision9
  • Those already legally blind would be willing to trade off 60 per cent of their remaining life to regain vision10
  • Doctor’s underestimate AMD patients’ loss in quality of life by up to 50 per cent11
  • Treating AMD patients to prevent further vision loss would save $13 million every five years12
Read more:

Managing Patients at Risk with AMD in Canadian Journal of Optometry (March 2009)
Where are with regards to AMD in Optik Magazine (July 2009)

For more information or to make a donation to vision research, contact:
The Foundation Fighting Blindness
Tel: 1-800-461-3331 or 416-360-0060
Or donate online

1. Statistics Canada. A profile of disability in Canada. Ottawa: 2001.
2. Klein R, Klein BE, Linton KL. Prevalence of age-related maculopathy. The Beaver Dam Eye Study. Ophthalmol 1992; 99(6):933-43. These data was prorated for the 2003 Canadian population.
3. AMD Alliance International
4. Cost of Blindness Symposium Committee. A CLEAR VISION: Solutions to Canada’s Vision Loss Crisis. Available from www.costofblindness.org.
4. CNIB. National Consultation of the Crisis of Vision Loss. Toronto: Oct 2 – Oct 5, 1998. Available from www.cnib.ca/eng/publications/pamphlets/nccvl/chapter2.htm.
5. Statistics Canada. Age (122) and Sex (3) for Population, for Canada, Province, Territories, Census Metropolitan Area and Census Agglomerations, 2001 Census – 100% Data. Ottawa: 2001.
6. CNIB. National Consultation of the Crisis of Vision Loss. Toronto: Oct 2 – Oct 5, 1998. Available from www.cnib.ca/eng/publications/pamphlets/nccvl/chapter2.htm.
7. Armstrong J. Vision Loss: The Public Perspective. Slide 7: Most feared disability. The Cost of Blindness Symposium, Toronto: Jan 31-Feb 1, 2004.
8. “A Clear Vision: Solutions to Canada’s Vision Loss Crisis.” February 2004. Commissioned by 9. CNIB and Novartis Ophthalmics.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.

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