title: Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and diabetic retinopathy in Republic of Moldova.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy among people aged ≥50 years in the Republic of Moldova using Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness plus Diabetic Retinopathy ('RAAB+DR') techniques.
  
  
  METHODS
  111 communities of people aged ≥50 years were randomly selected. In addition to standard RAAB procedures in all people with diabetes (previous history of the disease or with a random blood glucose level >11.1 mm/L (200 mg/dL)), a dilated fundus examination was performed to assess the presence and the degree of diabetic retinopathy using the Scottish DR grading system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  3877 (98%) people out of the 3885 eligible people were examined. The prevalence of blindness was 1.4% (95% CI 1.0% to 1.8%). The major causes of blindness and severe visual impairment were untreated cataract (58.2%), glaucoma (10.9%), and other posterior segment causes (10.9%). The estimated prevalence of diabetes was 11.4%. Among all people with diabetes, 55.9% had some form of retinopathy, and sight threatening diabetic retinopathy affected 14.6%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The RAAB+DR survey in the Republic of Moldova established that untreated cataract is the major cause of avoidable blindness in rural areas. This needs to be tackled by expanding the geographical coverage of cataract surgical services.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, Head of Directorate Primary Care,Chisinău, Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zatic
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Eugen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bendelic
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Ala
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paduca
authors.affiliation: International Agency of Prevention of Blindness Eastern Mediterranean region, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mansour
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rabiu
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corduneanu
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garaba
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Novac
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Curca
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Inga
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sorbala
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiaburu
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Florentina
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Verega
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Andronic
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guzun
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Căpăţină
authors.affiliation: State University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Nicolae Testemiteanu", Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology of Republic of Moldova.
authors.forename: Iulea
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zamă-Mardari
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001766:Blindness / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002386:Cataract / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008966:Moldova / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D015354:Vision, Low / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose
keywords: Epidemiology; Low vision aid; Retina; Vision