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1. Introduction and key points

The purpose of this Statistics Release is to present national figures on visually impaired persons registered with Local Authorities in Scotland. All figures relate to the 31 ^st March 2008 and are provisional and, as such, may be subject to change. The final figures will be published in future publications.

Registration with Local Authorities for blind and partially sighted persons is not compulsory. Research studies suggest that between a quarter and a third of visually impaired people are in fact registered with Local Authorities (see background note for more details).

Chart 1: Registered Visually Impaired Persons by Age Group, 2008

Information collected on visually impaired persons show that: -

• In 2008, the number of people registered as blind or partially sighted was estimated to be 35,916.
• There were 3,113 cases registered during the period 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008, a decrease of 4.6 per cent on 2007.
• The majority, 56 per cent, of those on the register were blind, 44 per cent were partially sighted.
• 38 per cent of those on the register were male and 62 per cent were female.
• Over three-quarters (76%) of those registered were over the age of 65.
• 11,457 persons (32 per cent) of those registered as visually impaired had additional disabilities. Of these, roughly a quarter were deaf.

Section 1: Blind Persons

There were 19,959 registered blind persons in 2008. The number registered blind has shown a drop of 2.4 per cent over the last year. This continues the trend of small, but steady falls since 2000. (See background note for more details).

The number of new cases registered during the year was 1,375. This is down 3.0 per cent on the previous year. (Table 1a)

In 2008, there were 3.9 people registered blind for every 1,000 people in the population of Scotland. This varies from 1.6 in Aberdeenshire to 6.7 in the City of Glasgow. A more detailed breakdown showing the rate per 1,000 population by age and sex for each Local Authority is available in Annex A.

Table 1a: Number of Registered Blind Persons and New Registrations during the Year,1999-2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Note:

¹ Care should be taken when commenting on trends as the fall in numbers between 2000 and 2002 is explained in part by improvements in reporting procedures by some local authorities.

Just over three-quarters of registered blind persons are over the age of 65, with approximately two-thirds being over 75. There are significantly more women registered blind (61 per cent) than men (39 per cent). (Table 1b)

Almost 45 per cent of all registered blind people are women aged 75 and over. This is also reflected in the new registrations where just under 50 per cent of the new registered cases are women aged 75 and over. (Table 1b)

Excluding the '75 and over' age group there is a much more even split between the sexes. (Table 1b & Chart 1b).

Table 1b: Number of Registered Blind Persons and New Registrations by Age and Gender, 2008

Souce: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Chart 1b: Number of Registered Blind Persons and New Registrations by Age and Gender, 2008

An estimated 6,799 (34 per cent) of all registered blind persons have additional disabilities, nearly a quarter of which are deaf. (Table 1c)

Nearly 73 per cent of those with additional disabilities were over the age of 65.
(Table 1c)

Table 1c: Number of Registered Blind Persons with Additional Disabilities by Age, 2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Section 2: Partially Sighted Persons

There were an estimated 15,957 registered partially sighted persons in 2008. This is up on last year (5.1%).

The number of people registered as partially sighted has been steadily rising over the last 10 years with a slight dip in numbers in 2007.

The number of new cases registered during the year was 1,738, This is down 5.8 per cent on the previous year. The number of people registered partially sighted per 1,000 population is 3.1 for this year. This has risen gradually from 2.9 in 2003.
(Table 2a).

The number of people registered partially sighted per 1,000 population is 3.1 for the whole of Scotland. This varies from 1.5 in Moray and Orkney to 4.6 in Argyll and Bute. A more detailed breakdown showing the rate per 1,000 population by age and sex for each Local Authority is available in Annex A.

Table 2a: Number of Registered Partially Sighted Persons and New Registrations during the years 1999-2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Note:

¹ Care should be taken when commenting on trends as the fall in numbers since 2000 is explained in part by improvements in reporting procedures by some local authorities.

Data on registered partially sighted individuals shows a similar picture to that of registered blind individuals. Approximately 76 per cent of registered partially sighted persons are over the age of 65, with approximately two-thirds (64%) being aged 75 or over. There are significantly more women registered as partially sighted (63 per cent) than men (37 per cent). Again, just under half (45%) of all registered partially sighted people are women aged 75 and over (Table 2b).

This large proportion of partially sighted women aged 75 or over is also mirrored in the new registrations where 42 per cent of the new registered cases are women aged 75 and over. Excluding the '75 and over' age group there is a much more even split between the sexes (Table 2b & Chart 2b).

Table 2b: Number of Registered Partially Sighted Persons and New Registrations by Age and Gender, 2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Chart 2b: Percentage of Registered Partially Sighted Persons and New Registrations by Age and Gender, 2008

An estimated 4,658 (29 per cent) of all registered partially sighted persons have additional disabilities, slightly over three-quarters (75%) of which are aged 65 and over. Physical disabilities account for over half (56 per cent) and nearly a quarter (23 per cent) are deaf. (Table 2c).

Table 2c: Number of Registered Partially Sighted Persons with Additional Disabilities by Age, 2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Section 3: Visually Impaired Under 65-year-olds

Time series data showing the number of visually impaired people under the age of 65 over the last 10 years is shown in the chart below.

It shows a gradual rise in the number of registered blind persons up until 2001 before remaining relatively constant at around 4,900 until 2006 then falling in 2007 and 2008. Registered partially sighted persons have increased year on year throughout the initial 7-year period, before levelling off in 2007 and 2008.

Chart 3: Time Series of Registered Blind and Registered Partially Sighted Persons Aged 65 and Under, 1999-2008

Overall the number of registered visually impaired under 65-year-olds has decreased by less than half of a per cent on last year. The ratio per 1,000 population is around 2.0 and has been around this level for the past 5 years (see Table 3a). Data on under 65's by local authority and sex is shown in Annex A.

Table 3a: Number of Registered Visually Impaired Under 65-year-olds, 1999 - 2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Note:

¹ Data for under 65-year-olds should be more reliable than older age groups due to lower mortality rates.

Background Information on the collection of the data:

Data was collected on persons registered with local authorities as at 31 March 2008.

The information is derived from returns made to the Scottish Executive by Scottish local authorities. The return asks for the number of blind and partially sighted persons by age, sex and additional disabilities. It does not include persons who may meet the criteria for being blind or partially sighted but have not registered with their local authority.

The Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 gives local authorities the power to maintain a register of people who are blind or partially sighted. However registration is voluntary and while registration provides access to a number of benefits and concessions there remain a large number of people who meet the criteria but are not registered. Research in 1991, undertaken at a UK level, indicated that the number of people on registers is some 23 per cent of those eligible. In 2001 they estimated it to be under a third.

'Think dual sensory' published in 1997 by the Department of Health suggested that some 2,000 people in Scotland could have some degree of deafblindness. Our latest figures show that there are 1,599 people registered as deafblind in Scotland and a further 1,084 people registered as partially sighted and deaf. This suggests that people are more likely to register if they have multiple disabilities.

Additionally, there are known problems with previous years' data where people have not been removed from the register of blind and partially sighted persons. Many local authorities have in recent years improved their registers by comparing with the register of deaths and this may in part explain the decrease in the number of registered blind persons since 2000.

Returns were received from all local authorities. Some points to note:

Glasgow:

Glasgow have substantially revised their figures in recent years following a move to a new management information system. This has resulted in improvements to data quality for 2006 and 2007 but care should be taken when comparing 2005 and 2006 figures as many of the changes seen are largely due to changes in the Glasgow figures. In 2008, they moved to a new management information system and have been quality assuring the data as it is transferred to the new system. This has resulted in further improvements to Glasgow's data.

Fife:

Fife were unable to provide complete information on additional disabilities. Care should therefore be taken when interpreting figures as a small amount of data has been estimated.

Lothians :

There have been increases this year for East Lothian and Midlothian, resulting from a computer error last year, which lead to an undercount for 2007. This error has now been rectified, and RNIB are confident that this year's data are accurate. The 2007 data in this publication use revisions to the 2007 data published last year. A similar error occurred for Edinburgh however revised data is not available at the time of publication and the 2007 figures for Edinburgh will be revised for future publications.

East Dunbartonshire:

East Dunbartonshire have been carrying out further quality assurance on their data this year and this has led to reductions in their figures.

Population figures:

2007 based Mid-year population projections from GRO(S) have been used to calculate rates per 1000 population in this Statistics Release.

Further Information

Further details and analysis of the data presented in this Statistics Release are available on request from the address given below. The Statistics Release is available in large print and on the Internet by accessing the Scottish Executive web site: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health

Contact: Steven Gillespie
Tel: 0131 244 3777
E-mail: SWStat@scotland.gov.uk

This statistics release was published on 25 November 2008

Annex A:

Registered Blind by Local Authority, 2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Registered Partially Sighted by Local Authority, 2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

Registered Visually Impaired by Local Authority, 2008

Source: Registration of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Return Form SWB

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN GROUP

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Enquiries on Free Personal and Nursing Care should be addressed to:

Steven Gillespie
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Health Directorate
St Andrews House
Edinburgh, EH1 3DG

Telephone: 0131 244 3777; Fax: 0131 244 5427
e-mail: Swstat@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

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Office of the Chief Statistician
Scottish Government
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EDINBURGH EH1 3DG

Telephone: (0131) 244 0442; Fax: (0131) 244 2223
e-mail: statistics.enquiries@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

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Scottish Government Statistics contacts

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Most recent Health Statistical Publications relating to the Community Care theme

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