AIM: To study the prevalence and causes of blindness in a rural south Indian population. METHODS: 3924/4800 enumerated (81.75%) subjects, aged 40 years or more from rural Tamil Nadu, underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination-visual acuity, refraction, intraocular pressure, gonioscopy, cataract grading (LOCS II), retinal examination, and SITA Standard where indicated. Blindness was defined using WHO criteria as best corrected visual acuity of less than 3/60 and/or visual field of less than 10 degrees in the better eye. The influence of age, sex, literacy, and occupation was assessed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: 753 subjects (19.2%; 321 males, 432 females) presented with a visual acuity of <3/60; 132 subjects (3.36%, 95% CI: 2.80 to 3.93) were diagnosed to be blind. Cataract was responsible in 74.62% of eyes; glaucoma, cystoid macular oedema, optic atrophy, and corneal scars accounted for 3.79% each. Bilateral causes of blindness were cataract (78.63%), glaucoma (4.29%), optic atrophy (3.42%), cystoid macular oedema, and corneal scars (2.56% each). In 19 eyes (7.2%) the blindness was probably related to cataract surgery. Blindness was positively associated with increasing age (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: 3.36% of the studied rural population was bilaterally blind, with cataract being the single most important cause.
AIM: To study the prevalence and causes of blindness in a rural south Indian population. METHODS: 3924/4800 enumerated (81.75%) subjects, aged 40 years or more from rural Tamil Nadu, underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination-visual acuity, refraction, intraocular pressure, gonioscopy, cataract grading (LOCS II), retinal examination, and SITA Standard where indicated. Blindness was defined using WHO criteria as best corrected visual acuity of less than 3/60 and/or visual field of less than 10 degrees in the better eye. The influence of age, sex, literacy, and occupation was assessed using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: 753 subjects (19.2%; 321 males, 432 females) presented with a visual acuity of <3/60; 132 subjects (3.36%, 95% CI: 2.80 to 3.93) were diagnosed to be blind. Cataract was responsible in 74.62% of eyes; glaucoma, cystoid macular oedema, optic atrophy, and corneal scars accounted for 3.79% each. Bilateral causes of blindness were cataract (78.63%), glaucoma (4.29%), optic atrophy (3.42%), cystoid macular oedema, and corneal scars (2.56% each). In 19 eyes (7.2%) the blindness was probably related to cataract surgery. Blindness was positively associated with increasing age (p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: 3.36% of the studied rural population was bilaterally blind, with cataract being the single most important cause.
Authors: L Dandona; R Dandona; M Srinivas; P Giridhar; K Vilas; M N Prasad; R K John; C A McCarty; G N Rao Journal: Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci Date: 2001-04 Impact factor: 4.799
Authors: R Dandona; L Dandona; M Srinivas; P Giridhar; M N Prasad; K Vilas; C A McCarty; G N Rao Journal: Br J Ophthalmol Date: 2002-04 Impact factor: 4.638
Authors: Lingam Vijaya; Ronnie George; A Rashima; Prema Raju; Hemamalini Arvind; Mani Baskaran; Ramesh S Ve Journal: Indian J Ophthalmol Date: 2010 May-Jun Impact factor: 1.848
Authors: G N Subathra; Sharmila R Rajendrababu; Vijayalakshmi A Senthilkumar; Iswarya Mani; B Udayakumar Journal: Indian J Ophthalmol Date: 2021-05 Impact factor: 1.848