title: Trend in cataract surgical rate in iran provinces.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to determine the trend of changes in Cataract Surgical Rate (CSR) in the provinces of Iran during 2006 to 2010 and identify high risk areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  This report is part of the national Iranian CSR Study. The percentage change in CSR in 2010 compared to 2006 was conducted in each province, retrospectively. One hundred and ten centers were chosen from all provinces, to determine CSR in each, the weight of major (>3,000 annual surgeries) and minor (3,000 annual surgeries or less) centers was calculated based on the number of selected centers, and multiplied by the number of surgeries in each province.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In eight provinces, CSR was decreased by 1-60%. One province (Booshehr) showed no change. Eighteen provinces had 2-79% increase. No 2006 data was available in three provinces. North Khorasan had the most decrease while Kerman had the most increase in CSR. Six of these 8 provinces had CSR>3,000 despite a decrease in 2010, but North Khorasan had CSR<3,000 over the whole 5 year period. In 4 provinces, CSR had a gap from 3,000 despite an ascending trend, and in two, the gap was quite considerable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although CSR has an improving trend in most provinces in Iran, it is decreasing in some provinces, and despite an already low CSR, the exacerbation continues. The growing population of over 50 year olds calls for prompt measures in such provinces. Even in improving provinces, some lag behind the minimum recommended by WHO, and the growth rate of the over 50 population reveals the necessity of immediate planning.
authors.affiliation: 1. Noor Ophthalmology Research Center, Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.affiliation: 1. Noor Ophthalmology Research Center, Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rezvan
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khabazkhoob
authors.affiliation: 3. Dept. of Public Health and Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gilasi
authors.affiliation: 2. Dept. of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Koroush
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Etemad
authors.affiliation: 1. Noor Ophthalmology Research Center, Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahdavi
authors.affiliation: 4. Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, International Campus (TUMS-IC), Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Soheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asgari
keywords: Cataract Surgical Rate; Epidemiology; Iran