Canavan Y M, Jackson A J, Stewart A
Department of Opthalmology, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.
Ulster Med J. 1997 Nov;66(2):92-5.
Statistics on the registration of blind and partially-sighted patients in Northern Ireland underestimate the true extent of visual impairment within our community. In comparison to other UK regions, where between 0.53% and 0.59% of the population avail of blind or partial sight registration, only 0.35% of residents in Northern Ireland appear on the respective registers. Most patients on the combined registers are in the older age groups and many also suffer from other disabilities. Regional discrepancies may be attributed to a combination of factors including: patient attitudes to the registration process, medical attitudes to registration and local anomalies in the way in which social services departments both record and present annual registration returns. Better liaison is necessary between the community, hospital and voluntary sector providers to improve identification and support services for the visually impaired in the future.
北爱尔兰盲人和部分视力受损患者的登记统计数据低估了我们社区视力障碍的实际程度。与英国其他地区相比，在这些地区，有0.53%至0.59%的人口进行了盲人或部分视力受损登记，而北爱尔兰只有0.35%的居民出现在相应的登记册上。综合登记册上的大多数患者属于老年群体，许多人还患有其他残疾。地区差异可能归因于多种因素，包括：患者对登记过程的态度、医疗界对登记的态度以及社会服务部门记录和提交年度登记报告方式中的地方异常情况。未来，社区、医院和志愿部门提供者之间需要更好地联络，以改善对视力受损者的识别和支持服务。
