title: Prevalence and causes of visual impairment among Saudi adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment (VI) among Saudi adults in Arar City, the capital of Northern Border Region of Saudi Arabia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 705 Saudi adults aged 18 years and older. All participants underwent ophthalmic examination including visual acuity (VA) testing, auto refraction, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement and fundus examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the present study 166 cases (23.5%) were found to have VI, while only 12 cases (1.7%) were considered as blind following the WHO definitions. Cataract was found to be the main cause of VI [51 cases (30.7%)] followed by refractive error (RE) [41 cases (24.7%)] and diabetic retinopathy (DR) [22 cases (13.2%)]. Seventy one cases of the studied subjects (10.07 %) had shown unilateral VI, while 13 cases (1.8%) had shown unilateral blindness with the other eye normal (VA ≥ 20/20).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Visual impairment is highly prevalent among Saudi adults in Arar city. Cataract, refractive error and diabetic retinopathy are the main 3 leading causes. Better plans for diagnosis and treatment should be considered to decrease the magnitude of the problem.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Mujeeb Ur Rehman Parrey, Ph.D. Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mujeeb Ur Rehman
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Parrey
authors.affiliation: Dr. Farhan Khashim Alswelmi, M.D. Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Farhan Khashim
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Alswelmi
keywords: Blindness; Cataract; Diabetic retinopathy; Refractive error; Visual impairment