Jialiang Zhao1, Xiao Xu2, Leon B Ellwein3, Ning Cai4, Huaijin Guan5, Mingguang He6, Ping Liu7, Jianhua Lv8, Xunlun Sheng9, Peizeng Yang10, Jinglin Yi11, Mei Yang5, Rui Zhang12, Xiaohu Ding6, Liping Du10, Fengrong Li13, Hong Lu5, Wenqiang Shao8, Junwei Wang7, Yuansheng Yuan4, Rui Zhou11, Wenjuan Zhuang9, Lei An2. 1. Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhjialiang@163.com. 2. Rehabilitation Administration Department, National Institute of Hospital Administration, Beijing, China. 3. National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. 4. Yunnan Medical University, Kunming, China. 5. Affiliated Hospital, Nantong University, Nantong, China. 6. State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. 7. First Clinical Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China. 8. Hebei Eye Hospital, Xingtai, China. 9. Ningxia Eye Hospital, Ningxia People's Hospital, Yinchuan, China. 10. Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. 11. Affiliated Eye Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China. 12. National Health and Family Planning Commission, Beijing, China. 13. Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in 2014 among older adults in rural China with comparisons with the 2006 Nine-Province Survey. DESIGN: Population-based, cross-sectional study. METHODS: Geographical cluster sampling was used in randomly selecting residents from a rural county or semi-rural district within 9 provinces: Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hebei, Ningxia, Chongqing, and Yunnan. Persons 50 years of age or older were enumerated through household visits and invited to examination sites for visual acuity testing and examination. Vision impairment and blindness in 2014 was compared with data from the 2006 survey. RESULTS: Among 51 310 examined persons, the prevalence of presenting vision impairment (<20/63 to ≥20/400) in the better-seeing eye ranged from 6.05% to 15.3% across the 9 study sites, with presenting blindness (<20/400) ranging from 0.66% to 5.35%. With best-corrected visual acuity, the prevalence of vision impairment ranged from 1.96% to 8.74%, and blindness from 0.47% to 5.01%. Vision impairment was associated with older age, female sex, and little or no education. The overall prevalence of presenting vision impairment and blindness decreased during the 2006-2014 interval by 6.31% and 29.0%, respectively; and by 16.1% and 38.0%, respectively, after standardization of 2006 prevalence rates to the 2014 population. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial progress has been made in the reduction of vision impairment in rural China. Nevertheless, vision impairment remains an important public health problem with substantial geographic disparities and with older age, female sex, and illiteracy as risk factors.
PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in 2014 among older adults in rural China with comparisons with the 2006 Nine-Province Survey. DESIGN: Population-based, cross-sectional study. METHODS: Geographical cluster sampling was used in randomly selecting residents from a rural county or semi-rural district within 9 provinces: Beijing, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Hebei, Ningxia, Chongqing, and Yunnan. Persons 50 years of age or older were enumerated through household visits and invited to examination sites for visual acuity testing and examination. Vision impairment and blindness in 2014 was compared with data from the 2006 survey. RESULTS: Among 51 310 examined persons, the prevalence of presenting vision impairment (<20/63 to ≥20/400) in the better-seeing eye ranged from 6.05% to 15.3% across the 9 study sites, with presenting blindness (<20/400) ranging from 0.66% to 5.35%. With best-corrected visual acuity, the prevalence of vision impairment ranged from 1.96% to 8.74%, and blindness from 0.47% to 5.01%. Vision impairment was associated with older age, female sex, and little or no education. The overall prevalence of presenting vision impairment and blindness decreased during the 2006-2014 interval by 6.31% and 29.0%, respectively; and by 16.1% and 38.0%, respectively, after standardization of 2006 prevalence rates to the 2014 population. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial progress has been made in the reduction of vision impairment in rural China. Nevertheless, vision impairment remains an important public health problem with substantial geographic disparities and with older age, female sex, and illiteracy as risk factors.
Authors: Yuan Bo Liang; David S Friedman; Tien Yin Wong; Si Yan Zhan; Lan Ping Sun; Jie Jin Wang; Xin Rong Duan; Xiao Hui Yang; Feng Hua Wang; Qiang Zhou; Ning Li Wang Journal: Ophthalmology Date: 2008-08-05 Impact factor: 12.079