title: The Venezuela eye evaluation study.
abstract: One-thousand-eighty-one rural and urban inhabitants of Venezuela were discovered to have good uncorrected visual acuity. This was especially noted among the males who were examined. More myopia was seen than previously reported, while earlier presbyopia was confirmed. There was a relatively low prevalence of glaucoma among men and women. Correction of refractive errors, cataracts, glaucoma and pterygia remains a challenge.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the frequency of ocular disease in rural and urban Venezuela.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants in a cross-sectional health screening study were examined. The main outcome measured was external eye disease: allergic conjunctivitis, dry eyes and pterygia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,281 individuals participated. All agreed to screening and eye examinations. Open-angle glaucoma was present in 1.2% of women and 1% of men. For participants age > 45, this increased to 1.9% of women and 2.8% of men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rural and urban inhabitants of Venezuela were determined to have good uncorrected visual acuity, especially among males. More myopia was noted than previously reported, while earlier presbyopia was confirmed. There was a relatively low frequency of glaucoma among men and women as compared to Barbados, and a U.S.-based study of Mexican Americans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY 10031, USA. mitchellmdj@verizon.net
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Praveen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keshava
authors.forename: M Mildred
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bynum
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: Asha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yancy
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: DellaRocca
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D012737:Sex Factors; D014505:Urban Population; D014687:Venezuela / Q000453:epidemiology; D014792:Visual Acuity