It is hardly debatable that poverty and poor health, however one measures either of these broad concepts, often exist together. Blindness, the most important manifestation of poor eye health, is no exception. World Health Organization estimates show higher rates of visual impairment in poorer countries, with few exceptions [1], and a recent large population-based survey in Pakistan found an ass...

AIMS To survey level of blindness and low vision in Lebanon. METHODS A population survey was undertaken in 10,148 individuals to measure the prevalence and identify the causes of blindness in Lebanon. RESULTS The prevalence of blindness was 0.6% and that of low vision 3.9%. The major causes of blindness were cataract (41.3%) and uncorrected large refractive error (12.6%). CONCLUSION Most ...

BACKGROUND Public health officials of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China requested a survey of blindness, eye diseases, and eye care service utilisation to assist the development of a 10 year blindness prevention and treatment plan. The objective of the survey was to determine the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment, as well as cataract surgical coverage and surgical outcome i...

PURPOSE To investigate sociodemographic factors, health behaviors, and comorbidities associated with cataracts in a large, nationally representative Korean sample. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study included 715554 adults aged 40 years or older who participated in the 2008-2012 Community Health Survey. Significant risk factors were identified using multivariate logistic regressi...

SummaryIn 2001, we conducted a population-based cluster survey of the prevalence of blindness and glaucoma in three districts of the Volta region of Ghana, West Africa. A secondary purpose was to assess the presenting visual acuities of individuals who had undergone extracapsular cataract extraction with an intraocular lens implant (ECCE/IOL) and intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE). The ta...

OBJECTIVE To identify popular beliefs regarding the treatment of senile cataract in patients enrolled in the community health programs on eye rehabilitation. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was carried out using an interview questionnaire that was applied to 776 subjects drawn from a non-probabilistic sample in five cities of the state of São Paulo. The sample was made up of 47.2% males and ...

CLINICAL practice patterns of European and US cataract surgeons are becoming more similar, although some interesting and important differences continue to distinguish the two groups, according to David Leaming MD. Dr Leaming will present a comparison study of practice styles of European and American surgeons at the XXII Congress of the ESCRS in Paris. He will compare the responses of 964 US sur...

BACKGROUND Patients' feedback is of great importance in health care policy decisions. The Consumer Quality Index Cataract Questionnaire (CQI Cataract) was used to measure patients' experiences with quality of care after a cataract operation. This study aims to evaluate the reliability and the dimensional structure of this questionnaire and assesses its ability to measure differences between hos...

BACKGROUND Visual acuity and vision related quality of life outcomes in cataract surgery were evaluated in a population based survey in two geographic zones in Nepal. METHODS Case finding was based on random sampling using a stratified cluster design with door to door enumeration of people aged > or = 45 years followed by eye examinations at village sites. All aphakics/pseudophakics, those wi...

STUDY OBJECTIVES The aim was to test whether cataract is associated with higher lifetime exposure to sunlight, and whether antioxidants protect against cataract. DESIGN This was a cross sectional survey of eye disease, with assessment of antioxidant status in a subgroup. SETTING Hong Kong fishing communities in 1989. PARTICIPANTS 685 men and women aged 55 to 74 years old were included in ...