title: A pilot study into the prevalence of ophthalmic disease in the Indian population of Southall.
abstract: A pilot study was carried out to determine the prevalence of ophthalmic disease in the Indian community of Southall and to ascertain the best methods applicable for a larger formal study. Three sites were chosen for the study, a Sikh gurdwara, a mosque and a Hindu temple. The subjects were volunteers aged 30 years and over who had visited the appropriate place of worship at least twice in the previous month. A total of 184 subjects were examined. The prevalence of blindness was 2.7% by the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, while 9.8% had uniocular blindness. The prevalence of glaucoma and ocular hypertension was 2.7% and 7%, respectively. Of the 184 subjects examined, 58% had cataract and 3.8% had age-related maculopathy. The prevalence of visually disabling trachomatous eye disease was 9.7%. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus was 17.9%, and that of hypertension 22.8%. This small study suggests that people with origins from the Indian subcontinent have a higher prevalence of ophthalmic disease than the Caucasian population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Oldchurch Hospital, Romford, Essex, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rauf
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Wormald
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001766:Blindness / Q000208:ethnology; D002386:Cataract / Q000208:ethnology; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000208:ethnology; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D014141:Trachoma / Q000208:ethnology