In 1994, the most common eye-related disease from which Americans

Question

In 1994, the most common eye-related disease from which Americans suffered was conjunctivitis, and glaucoma was a distant second. Glaucoma is much more common among patients who are more than 50 years old than it is among those who are 50 or younger, but the incidence rate for conjunctivitis is the same for people of all ages. The average age of all Americans is expected to exceed 50 by the year 2010.

Which of the following conclusions can be most properly drawn about eye-related diseases from the information given?

A. conjunctivitis will remain the most common eye-related disease among Americans in 2010.

B. By the year 2010, glaucoma will overtake conjunctivitis as the most common eye-related disease.

C. More people will suffer from conjunctivitis in 2010 than did in 1994.

D. Most Americans will encounter either conjunctivitis or glaucoma by 2010.

E. The average age of Americans suffering from conjunctivitis will increase between 1994 and 2010.

Divyadisha · Accepted Answer

We have to find the conclusion based on the given premises

Premises:- 
1) Conjunctivitis is the most common eye disorder and Glaucoma is the DISTANT second.
2) Glaucoma is common in >= 50 yrs age group and conjunctivitis is common among all age groups
3) The average age of americans will EXCEED to 50 by 2010

With the given premises we can conclude below information:-
1) There is significant difference in number of patients suffering from Conjunctivitis and Glaucoma
2) Currently the average age of americans is below 50 and population suffering from conjunctivitis has average age less than 50 years.
3) By 2010, when the average age will increase, average age of patient suffering from conjunctivitis will also increase.

a. conjunctivitis will remain the most common eye-related disease among Americans in 2010.  May be true if the population will suffer more from conjunctivitis. What if there will be more cases of glaucoma? this doesn’t give us 100% true conclusion

b. By the year 2010, glaucoma will overtake conjunctivitis as the most common eye-related disease.  May be true if increase in average age is depiction of increase in people over 50 years to suffer from Glaucoma. But what if people over 50 years of age will continue to suffer from conjunctivitis more than from glaucoma

c. More people will suffer from conjunctivitis in 2010 than did in 1994.  There is no data given about number of people that will suffer from either of the disease

d. Most Americans will encounter either conjunctivitis or glaucoma by 2010.  May be true. But there could be some people who will not encounter either of the disease
 
e. The average age of Americans suffering from conjunctivitis will increase between 1994 and 2010.  This is correct as we analysed above

amanarora87 · Answer

I disagree with the answer
If the incidence is the same across all ages, even if average age increases the incidence across all ages remains same. Option A must be correct becasue conjunctivitis will remain the most common eye disease

Enderwiggin17 · Answer

Since the incidence rate for conjunctivitis is the same for people of all ages and the average age will increase, therefore E is the answer.

shriramvelamuri · Answer

Hi Amanarora87

the answer is E because,

Incidence of conjuctivitis is same across all age groups. By 2010 there will be many >50aged people and hence more people likely to suffer from Conjuctivitis.

Does that make sense.

amanarora87 · Answer

shriramvelamuri  - Yes i read it a few times over and I get why E is the answer.
I mistook the meaning of incidence rate to be the number of people afflicted in an age group. However, I understand now that it means the percentage of the people across all age groups. 
Thank you

sairam595 · Answer

Can Someone explain why option B is wrong?

samusa · Answer

There is no information in the argument which may help us arrive at such definite conclusion ( Note the use of will - which indicates certainty).

The argument is about the likelihood/incidence rate of the diseases.

This is an inference-MUST be TRUE- question and so E is the only possibility that WILL happen.

Deep32470 · Answer

Hardness level of this question is somewhat overestimated.

Bunuel · Answer

We do not assign the difficulty level manually. The difficulty level of a question on the site is determined automatically based on various parameters collected from users' attempts, such as the percentage of correct answers and the time taken to answer the question. You can find the difficulty level of a question and its related statistics in the first post.

Hope it clarifies.

TheNikunjAgarwal · Answer

As far as about option A, It is incorrect as we cant say that if today something is number 1 , it will be remain number 1 after 16 years. Argument is nowhere suggesting this

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot:

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

This post was generated automatically.

In 1994, the most common eye-related disease from which Americans

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

GMAT Critical Reasoning (CR) Questions

In 1994, the most common eye-related disease from which Americans

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia