Prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment in Bangladeshi adults: results of the National Blindness and Low Vision Survey of Bangladesh

作者：Brendan Dineen · 发表于：British Journal of Ophthalmology · 年份：2003 · DOI：10.1136/bjo.87.7.820 · 被引用次数：161 · 研究领域：Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies、Tactile and Sensory Interactions、Retinopathy of Prematurity Studies

AIM: To determine the age, sex, and cause specific prevalences of blindness and visual impairment in adults 30 years of age and older in Bangladesh. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of 12 782 adults 30 years of age and older was selected based on multistage, cluster random sampling with probability proportional to size procedures. The breakdown of the cluster sites was proportional to the rural/urban distribution of the national population. The examination protocol consisted of an interview, visual acuity (VA) testing, autorefraction, and optic disc examination on all subjects. Corrected VA retesting, cataract grading, and a dilated fundal examination were performed on all visually impaired subjects. The definitions of blindness (<3/60) and low vision (<6/12 to >or=3/60) were based on the presenting visual acuity in the better eye. The World Health Organization/Prevention of Blindness proforma and its classification system for identifying the main cause of low vision and blindness for each examined subject was used. RESULTS: In total, 11 624 eligible subjects were examined (90.9% response rate) across the 154 cluster sites. A total of 162 people were bilaterally blind (1.53% age standardised prevalence) while a further 1608 subjects (13.8%) had low vision (<6/12 VA) binocularly. Visual acuity was >6/12 in the "better eye" in the remaining 9854 subjects (84.8%); however, 748 of these people had low vision in the fellow eye. The main causes of low vision were catarac...