Brendan Dineen|Rupert Bourne|Zahid Jadoon|S P Shah|Muhammad Asghar Khan|Allen Foster|Clare Gilbert|Mohammad Daud Khan
Causes of blindness and visual impairment in Pakistan. The Pakistan national blindness and visual impairment survey
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
bobjectiveb determine causes blindness visual impairment adults 30 years old pakistan explore sociodemographic variations cause bmethodsb multistage stratified cluster random sampling survey used select nationally representative sample adults subject interviewed visual acuity measured underwent autorefraction fundusoptic disc examination visual acuity lt612 either eye underwent detailed ophthalmic examination causes visual impairment classified according accepted world health organization methodology exploration demographic variables conducted using regression modeling bresultsb sample 16 507 adults 955 enumerated examined cataract common cause blindness 515 defined lt360 better eye presentation followed corneal opacity 118 uncorrected aphakia 86 glaucoma 71 posterior capsular opacification accounted 36 blindness among moderately visually impaired lt618 660 refractive error common cause 43 followed cataract 42 refractive error cause severe visual impairmentblindness significantly higher rural dwellers urban dwellers odds ratio 35 95 ci 11 117 significant provincial differences also identified overall estimate 855 causes avoidable 904 000 adults pakistan cataract lt660 requiring surgical intervention bconclusionsb comprehensive survey provides reliable estimates causes blindness visual impairment pakistan despite expanded surgical services cataract still accounts half cases blindness pakistan one eight blind adults visual loss sequelae cataract surgery services refractive errors need expanded integrated eye care services particularly serving rural populations