title: Oman's progress towards reaching "Ultimate Intervention Goals" for the surgery "S" component of SAFE strategy for the elimination of blinding trachoma in 2008.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A community based survey for Trachomatous Trichiasis (TT) was conducted in the high (TT >5% in 1997) and meso endemic areas (TT 1% to 5% in 1997) of Oman during 2008-09.
  
  
  METHODS
  Investigators examined Omanis 40 age years and older from randomly selected villages. Eyes were examined for TT and vision. The medical history of surgery and advice given for TT surgery were recorded. The TT cases that were unadvised by health staff were defined as un-approached cases. Cluster adjusted prevalence of TT and risk of TT by gender were estimated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We examined 4,951 of 5,268 persons in high-endemic areas and 965 of 993 (97.2%) persons in meso-endemic areas. The cluster adjusted prevalence of TT in the high and meso endemic areas were 7.54% (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 6.78-8.30) and 1.69% (95% CI 0.88-2.50) respectively. There were 5 TT patients in high endemic areas and none in meso-endemic areas who were not approached or managed in the past. The prevalence of TT across all ages was less than 1 per 1,000 of the population in all wilayats of Oman. Females had a significantly higher risk of cluster adjusted TT compared to males (Odds Ratio = 1.87 [95% CI 1.85-1.89]). The prevalence of blindness was 0.5% among TT cases in high endemic areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oman seems to have reached the Ultimate Intervention Goals (UIGs) of the "S" (Surgery) component in 2008 in high and meso-endemic areas. The efforts of existing eye services could be better evaluated if un-approached TT cases are used to calculate the TT prevalence. Oman needs to focus more on females with TT to reach the UIGs.
authors.affiliation: Eye & Ear Health Care, Department of Non Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control, Ministry of Health, Muscat, Oman. rajshpp@omantel.net.om
authors.forename: Rajiv
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khandekar
authors.forename: Harith
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al Harthy
authors.forename: Saleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al Harby
authors.forename: Saleh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al Hinai
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al Saadi
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Prasanna
authors.forename: Padmamohan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kurup
authors.forename: Abdulatif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al Raisi
authors.forename: Natrajan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sarvanan
authors.forename: Khalfan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al Hadrami
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krishnaraj
authors.forename: A Abdul
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Sattar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001766:Blindness / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006284:Health Plan Implementation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009850:Oman / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014141:Trachoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D058457:Trichiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult