Assessment of cataract blindness and cataract surgical outcome in rural and tribal population
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20250311Keywords:
Blindness, Cataract, Cataract surgical outcomeAbstract
Background: Assessment of cataract blindness and cataract surgical outcomes to determine the impact of cataract and the cataract control program on the rural and tribal population.
Methods: 25 clusters each from rural and tribal area with population of minimum 100 people aged above 50 years were selected by stratified cluster sampling. Participants were evaluated for history, vision, and questionnaire regarding cataract surgery as per pre-designed proforma.
Results: In rural area, of 5300 eyes, Severe Visual Impairment (SVI) (visual acuity <6/60 to ≥3/60) was noted in 151 (2.84%) eyes and 236 (4.45%) eyes were blind (visual acuity ≤3/60). Prevalence of cataract blindness noted in study population was 3.49%. whereas, in tribal area, of 5082 eyes, SVI was noted in 101 (1.98%) eyes and 134 (2.63%) eyes were blind. Prevalence of cataract blindness noted in study population was 2.14%. In rural area, out of 624 operated eyes, 431 eyes (69.07%) had good visual outcome (visual acuity ≥6/18), 132 eyes (21.15%) had borderline visual outcome (visual acuity >6/18 to ≤6/60) while, 61 eyes (9.78%) had poor visual outcome (visual acuity >6/60). In tribal area, out of 221 operated eyes, 139 eyes (62.89%) had good visual outcome, 59 eyes (33.62%) had borderline visual outcome, while 32 eyes (14.47%) had poor visual outcome.
Conclusions: Cataract was the major avoidable cause of blindness in rural and tribal population. The policies and programme should be strengthened and penetration of these services in rural as well as tribal area is necessary.
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References
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