title: Prevalence and risk factors for near and far visual difficulty in Burkina Faso.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence and risk factors for near and far visual difficulty in Burkina Faso.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based data were used from the World Health Survey done in Burkina Faso in 2002-2003;2003 (n=4,822 adults). Near and far visual difficulty were assessed by questions about difficulty seeing and recognizing an object at arm's length and about difficulty seeing and recognizing a person across the road. Prevalence estimates were adjusted for the multi-stage, stratified, random cluster sampling design. Logistic regression was used to identify independent risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of any near and far visual difficulty was 10% (standard error [SE] = 0.7%) and 13% (SE=0.9%) respectively. Prevalence estimates were strongly associated with age with 48% (SE=4.2%) and 66% (SE=3.9%) of those >or= 65 years old having near or far visual difficulty (P < 0.001). Only 5% (SE=0.6%) of people wore glasses. We identified two potentially modifiable variables associated with near visual difficulty: a cooking stove in the same room as sleeping area (Odds Ratio [OR]=1.45, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.01, 2.02) and high fruit consumption (OR=0.65, 95% CI 0.50, 0.86).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of visual difficulty was high in Burkina Faso. Efforts to confirm these findings with cooking stove location and fruit consumption should be undertaken in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. eefreeman@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ellen E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Maria-Victoria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Zunzunegui
authors.forename: Seni
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kouanda
authors.forename: Marie-José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aubin
authors.forename: Mihaela L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Popescu
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miszkurka
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cojocaru
authors.forename: Slim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haddad
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002050:Burkina Faso / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009216:Myopia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014792:Visual Acuity; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014944:World Health Organization