New York to survey vision impairment

Washington-New York State's Department of Health will include new questions about visual impairment and access to eyecare in its annual 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System program.

The program, which exists in all 50 states, is a telephone survey developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor major behavioral risks among adults. This year, New York will include questions relating to retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and cataract, as well as work-related eye injuries. The American Academy of Ophthalmology, which is assisting the state with financial support to defray the costs of adding the vision questions to the survey, said the information would help determine the levels of visual impairment within New York.