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Abstract #22042 Published in IGR 10-4
Epidemiologic study of blindness in population aged 50 and above of Kunming city
Wu M; Zhu MChinese Ophthalmic Research 2008; 26: 551-553
OBJECTIVE: This survey was to determine the prevalence and main causes of blindness and visual impairment in population ≥50 years in Kunming city, Yunnan province. METHODS: An epidemiologic study was curried out in Kunming from April to August, 2006. Multi-stage sampling was applied to select randomly 2760 subjects ≥50 years. All the individuals received visual acuity and ophthalmic examinations. The prevalence of blindness was calculated using two criteritions. Standard A was pinhole visual acuity and WHO definition, and the standard B presented with the visual acuity and visual impaired standard. RESULTS: 2588 subjects aged 50 and above were examined with the response rate 93.76%. The prevalence of blindness based on Standard A was 3.17% (95% CI: 2.35%-3.99%) and the prevalence blindness based on the Standard B was 3.67% (95% CI: 2.76%-4.58%). The main causes of blindness included cataract (63.15%), corneal disease (14.74%) and glaucoma (7.37%) with the rate of preventable blindness and preventable visual impairment 84.21% and 88.31%, respectively. The good coincide result was seen in visual outcome (Κ = 0.95) and cause (Κ = 0.96) between two survey teams. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of blindness in the population ≥50 years in Kunming city is relatively high and the leading cause of blindness is cataract. LA: Chinese
Dr. M. Wu, Department of Ophthalmology, Second People's Hospital of Yunnan Province, Kunming 650021, China. ynwumin@126.com
