Hospital eye admissions increase 73% over two decades

New research has examined trends in hospital admissions for diseases of the eye and adnexa in England and Wales.

Describing their findings in International Journal of General Medicine, scientists highlighted that the hospital admission rate across the two countries increased by 73% between 1999 and 2019.

The study involved analysing data from the hospital episodes statistics database in England and the patient episode database in Wales.

The most common reason for hospitalisation was disorders of the lens followed by diseases of the choroid and retina.

The authors noted that an ageing population and increased life expectancy contributed to the rising hospitalisation rates over the two decades.

In 2000, the median age of a UK resident was 37.6 years. This increased to 40.5 by 2020.

“Both the large population and high life expectancy increase the demands on health services as older people are more prone to develop chronic illnesses with multiple morbidities, including age-related eye diseases and associated visual impairment,” the authors noted.