Original articlePrevalence and risk indicators of visual impairment and blindness in Latinos: the Los Angeles Latino Eye Study☆
Section snippets
Study population
The study population consisted of self-identified Latinos, 40 years or older, living in La Puente. Details of the study design, sampling plan, and baseline data are reported elsewhere.14 In brief, after conducting a door-to-door census of all dwelling units within 6 census tracts in La Puente, eligible residents (40 years or older at the time of the census and self-identified Latinos) were informed of the study and invited to participate in both a home interview and a clinic examination.
Study cohort
Of the 7789 individuals who were eligible for the LALES, 908 refused to participate in the in-home interview and the clinical examination, 524 completed only an in-home interview, 6131 completed both an in-home interview and a clinical examination (HI + CE), 215 completed both an in-home interview and an in-home clinical examination (HI + HE), and 11 participants did not complete the in-home interview but did complete the clinical examination at the clinic (CE). Thus, 6357 (6131 + 215 + 11)
Discussion
Although Latinos are the largest US minority and the fastest growing segment of the US population, few population-based data on Latinos with blindness and visual impairment are available.13 The LALES, the largest epidemiologic study of eye disease of any ethnic/racial group in the US, was designed to fill this gap. We examined 6357 Latinos, 40 years and older (participation rate of 82%), using standardized methods of measuring VA and performing refraction. Strict quality control procedures were
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Manuscript no. 230716.
The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in the article.
Supported by the National Eye Institute and the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (grant nos.: EY11753 and EY03040), and an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, New York. Dr Varma is a Research to Prevent Blindness Sybil B. Harrington Scholar.
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See Ref. 14 for members.