Eye health measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 2024: interactive data

The proportion of First Nations people with undiagnosed vision impairment or blindness by main cause: Measure 2.5

The number of First Nations people with vision impairment or blindness attributed to 1 of the 5 main causes (refractive error, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma) who had not had their condition diagnosed, as a proportion of those with vision impairment or blindness attributed to 1 of the 5 main causes.

Latest data

Based on the latest available National Eye Health Survey (NEHS) data, in 2016, around 57% of First Nations participants in the NEHS had vision impairment or blindness attributed to 1 of 5 main causes (refractive error, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, and glaucoma) and had not previously had their condition diagnosed.

The rates varied by condition (Figure 27), with the highest rate being for undiagnosed cataract:

• 64 of 116 (55%) First Nations participants tested had undiagnosed refractive error 
• 27 of 39 (69%) First Nations participants tested had undiagnosed cataract 
• 4 of 11 (36%) First Nations participants tested had undiagnosed diabetic retinopathy. 

For non-Indigenous participants, 52% had vision impairment or blindness and had not previously had their condition diagnosed. The rates for non-Indigenous participants were highest for refractive error, with 79 out of 124 (64%) having undiagnosed refractive error (Figure 27).

Rates of undiagnosed eye diseases were higher for First Nations people than for non-Indigenous Australians for cataract and diabetic retinopathy, and lower for refractive error and age‑related macular degeneration (Figure 27).

Figure 27: Undiagnosed eye conditions, 2016

Source: National Eye Health Survey 2016