Prevalence of vitreous floaters in a community sample of smartphone users.

Abstract

AIM: To estimate the prevalence and risk factors for vitreous floaters in the general population. METHODS: An electronic survey was administered through a smartphone app asking various demographic and health questions, including whether users experience floaters in their field of vision. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 603 individuals completed the survey, with 76% reporting that they see floaters, and 33% reporting that floaters caused noticeable impairment in vision. Myopes were 3.5 times more likely (P=0.0004), and hyperopes 4.4 times more likely (P=0.0069) to report moderate to severe floaters compared to those with normal vision. Floater prevalence was not significantly affected by respondent age, race, gender, and eye color. CONCLUSION: Vitreous floaters were found to be a very common phenomenon in this non-clinical general population sample, and more likely to be impairing in myopes and hyperopes.