title: Changing trends in the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment in a rural district of India: systematic observations over a decade.
abstract: Context : Globally, limited data are available on changing trends of blindness from a single region. Aims : To report the changing trends in the prevalence of blindness, visual impairment (VI), and visual outcomes of cataract surgery in a rural district of Andhra Pradesh, India, over period of one decade. Settings and Design : Rural setting; cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods : Using a validated Rapid Assessment of Cataract Surgical Services (RACSS) method, population-based, cross-sectional survey was done in a rural district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Two-stage sampling procedure was used to select participants ≥50 years of age. Further, a comparative analysis was done with participants ≥50 years from the previously concluded Andhra Pradesh Eye Disease Study (APEDS) study, who belonged to the same district. Statistical Analysis : Done using 11 th version of Stata. Results : Using RACSS, 2160/2300 (93.9%) participants were examined as compared with the APEDS dataset (n=521). Age and sex adjusted prevalence of blindness in RACSS and APEDS was 8% (95% CI, 6.9-9.1%) and 11% (95% CI, 8.3-13.7%), while that of VI was 13.6% (95% CI, 12.2-15.1%) and 40.3% (95% CI, 36.1-44.5%), respectively. Cataract was the major cause of blindness in both the studies. There was a significant reduction in blindness following cataract surgery as observed through RACSS (17.3%; 95% CI, 13.5-21.8%) compared with APEDS (34%; 95% CI, 20.9-49.3%). Conclusion : There was a significant reduction in prevalence of blindness and VI in this rural district of India over a decade.
authors.affiliation: Allen Foster Community Eye Health Research Centre, International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye care; Prof. Brien Holden Eye Research Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute, LV Prasad Marg, Road No #2, Banjarahills, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Rohit C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.forename: Srinivas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marmamula
authors.forename: Sannapaneni
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krishnaiah
authors.forename: Pyda
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Giridhar
authors.forename: Subhabrata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.forename: Gullapalli N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002386:Cataract / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014792:Visual Acuity