London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
London County Council 1955
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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registrations
Table (i)
| Age | Principal cause of defective vision | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract | Glaucoma | Retrolental fibroplasia | Other conditions | ||
| 0—4 years | — | — | 3 | 19 | 22 |
| 5—15 years | — | — | — | 9* | 9* |
| 16—64 years | 38 | 16 | — | 184 | 238 |
| 65—74 years | 87 | 45 | — | 190 | 322 |
| 75 years and over | 286 | 50 | — | 323 | 659 |
| Age not known | — | — | — | 3 | 3 |
| 411 | 1ll | 3 | 728 | 1,253 | |
| (b) No. recommended to obtain treatment | 243 | 69 | 1 | 241 | 554 |
| (b) as percentage of (a) | 59.1 | 62.2 | 33.3 | 33.1 | 44.2 |
* Includes six schoolchildren examined under the Education Acts.
The principal cause of defective vision was frequently associated with a secondary
condition, e.g., cataract with glaucoma. Recommendations for treatment are generally
made where some improvement of vision may be expected, though improvement may
be insufficient to lead to removal from the register of blind and partially-sighted persons.
The treatments recommended most frequently were surgical treatment for cataract
(153 instances or 37 per cent, of those found with cataract as the principal cause of
their defective vision) and medical treatment or hospital supervision for glaucoma
(60 or 54 per cent.). That blindness is principally a problem associated with old age is
demonstrated by the age distribution in table (i).
Persons recommended to obtain treatment are re-examined at intervals after the
initial registration. The number of persons re-examined for this reason in 1955 is shown
in table (ii).
Re-examinations
Table (ii)
| Principal cause of defective vision | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cataract | Glaucoma | Retrolental fibroplasia | Other conditions | ||
| No. of persons re-examined | 168 | 40 | — | 136 | 344 |
| No. found to have had treatment | 106 | 33 | — | 78 | 217 |
| Percentage treated | 63.0 | 82.5 | — | 57.4 | 63.1 |
These figures are a measure of the extent to which treatment was obtained. Since
most of the blind and partially-sighted are elderly or old people, many of whom are
reluctant to accept treatment, a treatment rate of 63 per cent, can on the whole be
regarded as satisfactory.
As a consequence of successful treatment, 52 persons previously registered as blind
were found, on re-examination, to be partially-sighted, and 41 persons previously
certified as blind or partially-sighted were found to be improved to such an extent as
no longer to be registerable.
Figures for ophthalmia neonatorum are given on page 23.
51