About the research
Full project title: Harmonising measures of senses and behaviours
This project compared the visual health of different generations of British people for the first time. Measures of visual function, including visual acuity (clarity of vision) and refraction (bending of light through the eye), were harmonised across three longitudinal studies, together with extensive self-reported data on visual function and eye disease.
A harmonised dataset of measures of visual function has been produced, which allows an individual’s visual health to be investigated more accurately over their lifetime, and also enables researchers to compare visual health more effectively across generations. The project team also explored links between gender, social position and visual function.
Professor Jugnoo Rahi
Research lead
Professor Jugnoo Rahi (UCL Institute of Child Health)
Studies used
- 1946 MRC National Survey of Health and Development
- 1958 National Child Development Study
- 1970 British Cohort Study
Research outputs
- A dataset containing harmonised measure of visual function and refraction drawing on the national cohorts, with accompanying documentation. Not yet available – sign up to CLOSER’s email newsletters to find out when it is published.
Press releases and blogs
Papers
- Bountziouka V, Cumberland PM, Rahi JS. Trends in visual health inequalities in childhood through associations of visual function with sex and social position across 3 UK birth cohorts. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2017;135(9):954–961. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/2647974
- Bountziouka V, Cumberland PM, Rahi JS. Trends in visual health inequalities in childhood through associations of visual function with sex and social position across 3 UK birth cohorts – Reply. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2018;136(2):223. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2017.6197
- Cumberland PM, Bountziouka V, Rahi JS. Impact of varying the definition of myopia on estimates of prevalence and associations with risk factors: time for an approach that serves research, practice and policy. Br J Ophthalmol. Online. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjophthalmol-2017-311557
Read about other CLOSER data harmonisation projects.