Eye healthcare services in eastern Europe: Part 1. Cataract surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To describe cataract surgical services in 1998 in 12 eastern European countries and to identify their needs to reduce cataract blindness.


METHODS
All inpatient eye departments in the 12 countries received a standardised questionnaire; the data obtained were further processed at the coordinating centre in Prague.


RESULTS
All 458 eye departments in the region were involved. The response rate was 100%, except for Bulgaria (93%) and Romania (93%). The total number of cataract surgeries per one million inhabitants in 1998 was calculated: Belarus (800), Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1275), Bulgaria (1730), the Czech Republic (4210), Estonia (2530), Hungary (3530), Latvia (1860), Lithuania (1550), Trans-Dniester Moldova (1300), Poland (1475), Romania (1260), and Slovakia (2430). Cataracts were mostly operated on by the extracapsular technique. Intracapsular extractions were frequently performed in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (47%), Belarus (46%), Bulgaria (18%), and Romania (14.3%). Phacoemulsification was uncommonly used in 1998, except for the Czech Republic (86%), Estonia (50%), Slovakia (38%), and Hungary (16%). An IOL was implanted in more than 90% of patients in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.


CONCLUSIONS
Conditions for cataract surgery in the eastern European region differ. The main barriers to cataract surgery were state budget limitations, insufficient supply of consumables, underutilisation of operating theatres, and poor detection of patients requiring surgery.
Charles University Eye Clinic, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. ivokocur@ti.cz
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Kocur
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Resnikoff
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Foster
D000368:Aged; D002386:Cataract / Q000175:diagnosis; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005061:Europe, Eastern; D017048:Health Care Costs; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D018918:Phacoemulsification