Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.

<h4>Purpose</h4>To estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment (VI), and report the outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan Region, Guangdong Province, southern China.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional population-based survey.<h4>Participants</h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiujuan Zhang, Emmy Y Li, Christopher Kai-Shun Leung, David C Musch, Xin Tang, Chongren Zheng, Mingguang He, David F Chang, Dennis Shun-Chiu Lam
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180769&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850230405897125888
author Xiujuan Zhang
Emmy Y Li
Christopher Kai-Shun Leung
David C Musch
Xin Tang
Chongren Zheng
Mingguang He
David F Chang
Dennis Shun-Chiu Lam
author_facet Xiujuan Zhang
Emmy Y Li
Christopher Kai-Shun Leung
David C Musch
Xin Tang
Chongren Zheng
Mingguang He
David F Chang
Dennis Shun-Chiu Lam
author_sort Xiujuan Zhang
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Purpose</h4>To estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment (VI), and report the outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan Region, Guangdong Province, southern China.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional population-based survey.<h4>Participants</h4>A total of 3484 participants including 1397 men (40.1%) and 2087 women (59.9%) aged ≥50 years were examined (94.2% response rate).<h4>Method</h4>A two-stage cluster sampling procedure was used to select 3700 participants aged ≥50 years from 74 clusters of Chaonan Region. Participants were examined according to the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) method. Blindness and visual impairment (VI) were defined by the World Health Organization criteria. Participants with visual acuity (VA) < 6/18 in either eye were examined by ophthalmologists. The primary causes of blindness and VI were reported with reference to the participant's better eye.<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>Prevalence and main causes of blindness, severe visual impairment (SVI), VI and the outcomes of cataract surgery.<h4>Results</h4>The standardized prevalence rates of blindness, SVI, and VI were 2.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-2.9%), 1.0% (95% CI, 0.7-1.4%), and 6.4% (95% CI, 5.6%- 7.1%), respectively. The principal cause of blindness and SVI was cataract, accounting for 67.1% and 67.6% respectively, and the principal cause of VI was refractive error (46.9%). One hundred and fifty five out of 3484 (4.4%) people (211 eyes) had cataract surgery. Of the 211 eyes that had cataract surgery, 96.7% were pseudophakic. 67.2% of the 211 operated eyes had a presenting visual acuity (PVA) of 6/18 or better.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The prevalence of blindness, SVI, and VI was high among rural residents in Chaonan. Cataract remained the leading cause of avoidable blindness. Outcomes of cataract surgery performed in rural private clinics were suboptimal. Quality-control initiatives such as hands-on training program should be introduced to improve cataract surgery outcomes.
format Article
id doaj-art-ff0edd2d9bcb403eb052b56d1d35cb92
institution OA Journals
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2017-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-ff0edd2d9bcb403eb052b56d1d35cb922025-08-20T02:03:53ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01128e018076910.1371/journal.pone.0180769Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.Xiujuan ZhangEmmy Y LiChristopher Kai-Shun LeungDavid C MuschXin TangChongren ZhengMingguang HeDavid F ChangDennis Shun-Chiu Lam<h4>Purpose</h4>To estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment (VI), and report the outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan Region, Guangdong Province, southern China.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional population-based survey.<h4>Participants</h4>A total of 3484 participants including 1397 men (40.1%) and 2087 women (59.9%) aged ≥50 years were examined (94.2% response rate).<h4>Method</h4>A two-stage cluster sampling procedure was used to select 3700 participants aged ≥50 years from 74 clusters of Chaonan Region. Participants were examined according to the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) method. Blindness and visual impairment (VI) were defined by the World Health Organization criteria. Participants with visual acuity (VA) < 6/18 in either eye were examined by ophthalmologists. The primary causes of blindness and VI were reported with reference to the participant's better eye.<h4>Main outcome measures</h4>Prevalence and main causes of blindness, severe visual impairment (SVI), VI and the outcomes of cataract surgery.<h4>Results</h4>The standardized prevalence rates of blindness, SVI, and VI were 2.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-2.9%), 1.0% (95% CI, 0.7-1.4%), and 6.4% (95% CI, 5.6%- 7.1%), respectively. The principal cause of blindness and SVI was cataract, accounting for 67.1% and 67.6% respectively, and the principal cause of VI was refractive error (46.9%). One hundred and fifty five out of 3484 (4.4%) people (211 eyes) had cataract surgery. Of the 211 eyes that had cataract surgery, 96.7% were pseudophakic. 67.2% of the 211 operated eyes had a presenting visual acuity (PVA) of 6/18 or better.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The prevalence of blindness, SVI, and VI was high among rural residents in Chaonan. Cataract remained the leading cause of avoidable blindness. Outcomes of cataract surgery performed in rural private clinics were suboptimal. Quality-control initiatives such as hands-on training program should be introduced to improve cataract surgery outcomes.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180769&type=printable
spellingShingle Xiujuan Zhang
Emmy Y Li
Christopher Kai-Shun Leung
David C Musch
Xin Tang
Chongren Zheng
Mingguang He
David F Chang
Dennis Shun-Chiu Lam
Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.
PLoS ONE
title Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.
title_full Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.
title_fullStr Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.
title_short Prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in Chaonan, South China.
title_sort prevalence of visual impairment and outcomes of cataract surgery in chaonan south china
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0180769&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT xiujuanzhang prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT emmyyli prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT christopherkaishunleung prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT davidcmusch prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT xintang prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT chongrenzheng prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT mingguanghe prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT davidfchang prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina
AT dennisshunchiulam prevalenceofvisualimpairmentandoutcomesofcataractsurgeryinchaonansouthchina