Advancing Health Equity: Social Determinants and Vision Loss | Vision and Eye Health
Social determinants and health equity
Social determinants and health equity
Social factors like where someone lives and how much money they earn can affect their health, including risk of vision loss.
Social determinants are key drivers of health inequities—especially among people from racial and ethnic minority groups. Health inequities increase the risk of poor health outcomes. It is essential to reduce and eliminate these disparities to reach health equity.
Social determinants of health and vision loss
Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the nonmedical conditions that shape people’s daily lives and influence their health. They include where people live, learn, work, and play. Healthy People 2030 breaks SDOH into five key domains: education, health care access, economic stability, built environment, and social context.
How social determinants affect vision health
The following social factors play an important role in vision loss:
Income
People with lower incomes are less likely to access preventive care, including an eye exam. They are also less likely to be able to afford eyeglasses and more likely to have vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy.1234
Education
People with less than a high school education are less likely to have had an eye care visit in the last year compared to people with more than a high school education.1
Neighborhood
Neighborhood safety can impact physical activity, weight management, blood sugar levels, and stress. These are all factors that affect someone’s risk for diabetes, which can lead to vision loss.5
Health care access
People living with a disability such as vision impairment or blindness report having more problems accessing care. Common issues include cost, insurance coverage, transportation, and refusal of services by providers. People with vision impairment are also more likely to be uninsured compared to people without.6
Addressing these barriers is key to eliminating health disparities and reaching vision health equity.
Who’s affected
Vision loss in the United States
Vision loss ranks among the top 10 causes of disability in the United States. About 7 million Americans have vision impairment, including 1 million who are blind.7 These numbers are expected to double by 2050 due to population aging and increases in chronic diseases that can lead to vision loss.8
Learn more about common eye disorders
Populations impacted
The risk for eye disease varies by race/ethnicity, age, and sex. In addition, having a chronic health condition (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease) can increase risk. Behavioral factors such as smoking and being physically inactive also increase the risk of vision loss.
Data spreadsheet for Figure 1.
Research shows that SDOH are also linked to vision loss.9 A recent study found that people who reported having visual difficulty were more likely to:
- Have a lower education level.
- Have health care coverage through Medicaid.
- Have problems paying medical bills.
- Have trouble finding a doctor.
- Skip doses of medicine because of cost.
- Experience food insecurity.
- Identify as a gay male.
What CDC is doing
Learn more about the CDC’s Vision Health Initiative and its partnerships to advance vision health equity.
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