OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of low vision (LV) and blindness, and their associated disabilities, handicaps and socio-economic consequences in subjects living in institutions. METHODS: Two thousand seventy-five institutions (children or adults with handicaps, old people and psychiatric centers) were selected at random from the French Health Ministry files in 18 predefined strata. Day care centers were excluded. In each selected institution, eight subjects were picked at random by the interviewers from the resident list. Face-to-face interviews collected social and demographic data, institution description, income, handicaps, disabilities, social allowances and activities of daily living. Three groups were defined based upon subject interviews: blind, low vision (LV), and a control group (CG). These were compared after adjustment for age and co-morbidities. Of the 15,403 subjects selected at random, 14,603 interviews (94.9%) were completed. RESULTS: The prevalence of blindness was 1.6% and the low vision figure was 13.4%. The CG was younger than blind and LV subjects (67.3, 71.4 and 80). Entry to institutions was related to health in more than 75% of the cases. Blind subjects needed assistance with daily activities more often (RR: 1.31 to 3.33) than CG members while LV subjects' assistance was similar to that of the CG. Blind subjects often required more institution adaptation than the CG (RR: 1.13 to 2.83). Blind (57.9%) and LV subjects (35.4%) were more often registered for social allowances. Monthly social allowances were € 86 higher for blind than LV individuals. Monthly family incomes were found similar between the 3 groups (from € 782 to 797). CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the impact of blindness and LV on daily living in patients living in institutions.