Uveitis epidemiology and demographics

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Tarek Nafee, M.D. [2]; M Chadi Alraies M.D., MPH [3]

Overview

Worldwide, the prevalence of uveitis ranges from 69 to 204 per 100,000 persons. The prevalence among different subtypes of uveitis varies greatly. Anterior, chronic, non-granulomatous and non-infectious subtypes are more commonly seen than others. The worldwide incidence of uveitis ranges from 17 to 52 per 100,000 persons per year. The age, sex, and race distribution is also dictated by the prevalence of the underlying cause within those demographic groups.[1][2][3]

Epidemiology

Worldwide incidence and prevalence of uveitis has been well studied. The epidemiologic data varies greatly by underlying etiology or classification of uveitis.

Prevalence

The reported global prevalence of uveitis ranges widely from 38 to 714 per 100,000 people, reflecting substantial geographic and methodological variability. Uveitis is responsible for 3%–10% of visual impairment in the United States and Europe and has been associated with up to one-quarter of blindness in low- and middle-income countries.[4]

Prevalence by Subtype

Several studies have reported prevalence data among a large group of uveitis patients, as follows:

  • By anatomy In the United States and Europe, [5][6][7][8][9]
    • Anterior uveitis is the most common subtype (41%–60%)
    • Posterior uveitis (17%–23%)
    • Intermediate uveitis (9%–15%)
    • Panuveitis (7%–32%)
  • By Etiology In high-income countries, 52%–79% of uveitis cases are noninfectious, while 11%–21% are infectious; in contrast, infectious causes account for up to 50% of cases in low- and middle-income countries.[4][10] In high-income settings, the most common infectious causes include toxoplasmosis (5%–7%) and herpes-related uveitis (5%–15%), whereas tuberculosis-related (8%–13%) and HIV-related (10%–14%) uveitis are more prevalent in low- and middle-income countries.[6][11][12][13][14][15][16] Despite comprehensive evaluation, 27%–51% of uveitis cases remain idiopathic.[5][7][17][8][18] In the United States and Europe, 37%–49% of uveitis cases are associated with systemic inflammatory diseases, most commonly axial spondyloarthritis.[5][6][7][17][19][20][21]
  • By Laterality Laterality varies by anatomic subtype: anterior uveitis is more often unilateral (≈53%), whereas intermediate uveitis (79%), posterior uveitis (57%), and panuveitis (75%) are more commonly bilateral.[22]
  • Geographic Contrast The epidemiology of uveitis varies substantially by geography and ethnicity, reflecting differences in genetic susceptibility, environmental exposures, and regional infection prevalence.[23][24] In regions with a lower prevalence of HLA-B27, such as Japan, panuveitis predominates (≈46%), followed by anterior (38%), posterior (13%), and intermediate uveitis (3%).[25] Sarcoidosis-associated uveitis is more frequent in Europe and the United States (≈8%–10%), Behçet disease accounts for approximately 30% of uveitis cases in Turkey, and Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease is more prevalent in East Asian populations.[9][26][27][28][29]
  • By Prognosis In a large US insurance-based cohort, approximately 5% of patients with noninfectious intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis developed blindness or low vision within 5 years.[30]

Incidence

Worldwide, the incidence of uveitis ranges from 17 to 52 per 100,000 per year.[1][2][3]

Demographics

The age, sex, and race distribution of uveitis is dictated by the prevalence of the underlying cause within those demographic groups.

Age

Uveitis can occur at any age but presents most frequently in young and middle-aged adults (20–50 years), who account for approximately 60%–80% of cases.[4][17][31]The prevalence among age groups varies greatly depending on the underlying etiology. The following is an example of age distribution by underlying etiology:[3][32][33][34][35]

Children: Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, toxocariasis
Young adults: Behçet's disease, HLA-B27 antigen associated uveitis, Fuch's uveitis
Older adults: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, herpes zoster ophthalmicus, and tuberculosis

Gender

Overall, uveitis is more common in women, with approximately 57% of cases occurring in females.[36] Female predominance is particularly pronounced in uveitis associated with multiple sclerosis (≈75% female), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (50%–80% female), and sarcoidosis (55%–64% female), whereas HLA-B27–associated uveitis shows a male predominance (male-to-female ratio ≈1.5:1).[37] The prevalence of uveitis among one of the sexes depends on the gender distribution of the underlying disorder.[3]

Race

The prevalence of different etiologies of uveitis vary by race. Caucasians are more affected by HLA-B27 related conditions making HLA-related uveitis highly prevalent in this race group. Alternatively, middle eastern people are more likely affected with Behcet's disease, making them more likely to have uveitis related to this disease. African Americans are more commonly affected by sarcoidosis, thus sarcoid related uveitis is more common in this group.[32][33][34][35]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Guly CM, Forrester JV (2010). "Investigation and management of uveitis". BMJ. 341: c4976. doi:10.1136/bmj.c4976. PMID 20943722.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gutteridge IF, Hall AJ (2007). "Acute anterior uveitis in primary care". Clin Exp Optom. 90 (2): 70–82. doi:10.1111/j.1444-0938.2006.00128.x. PMID 17311570.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Rodriguez A, Calonge M, Pedroza-Seres M, Akova YA, Messmer EM, D'Amico DJ; et al. (1996). "Referral patterns of uveitis in a tertiary eye care center". Arch Ophthalmol. 114 (5): 593–9. PMID 8619771.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Miserocchi, E., Fogliato, G., Modorati, G., & Bandello, F. (2013). Review on the worldwide epidemiology of uveitis. European Journal of Ophthalmology, 23(5), 705–717. https://doi.org/10.5301/ejo.5000278
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Bertrand, P.-J., Jamilloux, Y., Ecochard, R., Richard-Colmant, G., Gerfaud-Valentin, M., Guillaud, M., Denis, P., Kodjikian, L., & Sève, P. (2019). Uveitis: Autoimmunity… and beyond. Autoimmunity Reviews, 18(9), 102351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2019.102351
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Bajwa, A., Osmanzada, D., Osmanzada, S., Khan, I., Patrie, J., Xin, W., & Reddy, A. K. (2015). Epidemiology of uveitis in the mid-Atlantic United States. Clinical Ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.), 9, 889–901. https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S80972
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Barisani-Asenbauer, T., Maca, S. M., Mejdoubi, L., Emminger, W., Machold, K., & Auer, H. (2012). Uveitis- a rare disease often associated with systemic diseases and infections- a systematic review of 2619 patients. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, 7(1), 57. https://doi.org/10.1186/1750-1172-7-57
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Jabs, D. A., & Busingye, J. (2013). Approach to the diagnosis of the uveitides. American Journal of Ophthalmology, 156(2), 228–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajo.2013.03.027
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Jones, N. P., Pockar, S., & Steeples, L. R. (2023). Changing trends in uveitis in the United Kingdom: 5000 consecutive referrals to a tertiary referral centre. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 31(5), 921–926. https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2022.2067067
  10. ↑ Tsirouki, T., Dastiridou, A., Symeonidis, C., Tounakaki, O., Brazitikou, I., Kalogeropoulos, C., & Androudi, S. (2018). A focus on the epidemiology of uveitis. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 26(1), 2–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2016.1196713
  11. ↑ Cimino, L., Aldigeri, R., Salvarani, C., Zotti, C. A., Boiardi, L., Parmeggiani, M., Casali, B., & Cappuccini, L. (2010). The causes of uveitis in a referral centre of Northern Italy. International Ophthalmology, 30(5), 521–529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-010-9359-y
  12. ↑ Hermann, L., Falcão-Reis, F., & Figueira, L. (2021). Epidemiology of Uveitis in a tertiary care centre in Portugal. Seminars in Ophthalmology, 36(1–2), 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/08820538.2021.1885721
  13. ↑ Tyagi, M., Das, A. V., Kaza, H., Basu, S., Pappuru, R. R., Pathengay, A., Murthy, S., & Agrawal, H. (2022). LV Prasad Eye Institute EyeSmart electronic medical record-based analytics of big data: LEAD-Uveitis Report 1: Demographics and clinical features of uveitis in a multi-tier hospital based network in Southern India. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, 70(4), 1260–1267. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijo.IJO_1122_21
  14. ↑ Mwanza, J. C., & Kayembe, D. L. (2001). Uveitis in HIV-infected patients. European Journal of Ophthalmology, 11(1), 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1177/112067210101100110
  15. ↑ Agrawal, R., Gunasekeran, D. V., Agarwal, A., Carreño, E., Aggarwal, K., Gupta, B., Raje, D., Murthy, S. I., Westcott, M., Chee, S. P., McCluskey, P., Ling, H. S., Teoh, S., Cimino, L., Biswas, J., Narain, S., Agarwal, M., Mahendradas, P., Khairallah, M., … Gupta, V. (2020). The collaborative ocular tuberculosis study (COTS)-1: A multinational description of the spectrum of choroidal involvement in 245 patients with tubercular uveitis. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 28(sup1), 38–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2018.1489061
  16. ↑ Alli, H. D., Ally, N., Mayet, I., Dangor, Z., & Madhi, S. A. (2022). Global prevalence and clinical outcomes of tubercular uveitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Survey of Ophthalmology, 67(3), 770–792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.survophthal.2021.10.001
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Rothova, A., Buitenhuis, H. J., Meenken, C., Brinkman, C. J., Linssen, A., Alberts, C., Luyendijk, L., & Kijlstra, A. (1992). Uveitis and systemic disease. The British Journal of Ophthalmology, 76(3), 137–141. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjo.76.3.137
  18. ↑ Chang, J. H.-M., & Wakefield, D. (2002). Uveitis: a global perspective. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 10(4), 263–279. https://doi.org/10.1076/ocii.10.4.263.15592
  19. ↑ Bro, T., & Tallstedt, L. (2020). Epidemiology of uveitis in a region of southern Sweden. Acta Ophthalmologica, 98(1), 32–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/aos.14130
  20. ↑ London, N. J., Garg, S. J., Moorthy, R. S., & Cunningham, E. T. (2013). Drug-induced uveitis. Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection, 3(1), 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/1869-5760-3-43
  21. ↑ Hu, J., Vu, J. T., Hong, B., & Gottlieb, C. (2020). Uveitis and cystoid macular oedema secondary to topical prostaglandin analogue use in ocular hypertension and open angle glaucoma. The British Journal of Ophthalmology, 104(8), 1040–1044. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjophthalmol-2019-315280
  22. ↑ Rodriguez, A., Calonge, M., Pedroza-Seres, M., Akova, Y. A., Messmer, E. M., D’Amico, D. J., & Foster, C. S. (1996). Referral patterns of uveitis in a tertiary eye care center. Archives of Ophthalmology, 114(5), 593–599. https://doi.org/10.1001/archopht.1996.01100130585016
  23. ↑ Guo, X., Chen, Z., & Xing, Y. (2021). Immune-mediated uveitis and lifestyle factors: A review. Ophthalmic Research, 64(5), 687–695. https://doi.org/10.1159/000518496
  24. ↑ Bai, Y.-C., Wang, C.-Y., Lin, C.-L., Lai, J.-N., & Wei, J. C.-C. (2021). Association between air pollution and the risk of uveitis: A nationwide, population-based cohort study. Frontiers in Immunology, 12, 613893. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.613893
  25. ↑ Liba, T., Gorenshtein, A., Leibovitch, L., Gepstein, R., Machinski, E., & Segal, O. (2025). Epidemiological characterization of uveitis in Japan: A systematic review. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 33(7), 1086–1095. https://doi.org/10.1080/09273948.2025.2452193
  26. ↑ Das, D., Bhattacharjee, H., Bhattacharyya, P. K., Jain, L., Panicker, M. J., Das, K., & Deka, A. C. (2009). Pattern of uveitis in North East India: a tertiary eye care center study. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, 57(2), 144–146. https://doi.org/10.4103/0301-4738.45506
  27. ↑ Wakabayashi, T., Morimura, Y., Miyamoto, Y., & Okada, A. A. (2003). Changing patterns of intraocular inflammatory disease in Japan. Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 11(4), 277–286. https://doi.org/10.1076/ocii.11.4.277.18260
  28. ↑ Çakar Özdal, M. P., Yazici, A., Tüfek, M., & Öztürk, F. (2014). Epidemiology of uveitis in a referral hospital in Turkey. Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences, 44(2), 337–342. https://doi.org/10.3906/sag-1302-132
  29. ↑ Engelhard, S. B., Patel, V., & Reddy, A. K. (2015). Intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis, and panuveitis in the Mid-Atlantic USA. Clinical Ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.), 9, 1549–1555. https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S89428
  30. ↑ Dick, A. D., Tundia, N., Sorg, R., Zhao, C., Chao, J., Joshi, A., & Skup, M. (2016). Risk of ocular complications in patients with noninfectious intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis, or panuveitis. Ophthalmology, 123(3), 655–662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2015.10.028
  31. ↑ Saari, K. M., Päivönsalo-Hietanen, T., Vaahtoranta-Lehtonen, H., Tuominen, J., & Sillanpää, M. (1995). Epidemiology of endogenous uveitis in south-western Finland. Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica, 73(4), 345–349. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0420.1995.tb00040.x
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Agrawal RV, Murthy S, Sangwan V, et al; Current approach in diagnosis and management of anterior uveitis. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2010 Jan-Feb;58(1):11-9. doi: 10.4103/0301-4738.58468.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Guly CM, Forrester JV; Investigation and management of uveitis. BMJ. 2010 Oct 13;341:c4976. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c4976
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Gutteridge IF, Hall AJ; Acute anterior uveitis in primary care. Clin Exp Optom. 2007 Mar;90(2):70-82.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Patient Info UK and European Guidelines(2016)http://patient.info/doctor/uveitis-pro#ref-1
  36. ↑ Thorne, J. E., Suhler, E., Skup, M., Tari, S., Macaulay, D., Chao, J., & Ganguli, A. (2016). Prevalence of noninfectious uveitis in the United States: A claims-based analysis. JAMA Ophthalmology, 134(11), 1237–1245. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2016.3229
  37. ↑ Yeung, I. Y. L., Popp, N. A., & Chan, C.-C. (2015). The role of sex in uveitis and ocular inflammation. International Ophthalmology Clinics, 55(3), 111–131. https://doi.org/10.1097/IIO.0000000000000072

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