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      Prevalence and causes of visual impairment among Saudi adults

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          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).

          Conclusion:

          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.

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          Causes of blindness and visual impairment in Latin America.

          João M. Furtado, Van Lansingh, Marissa Carter … (2012)
          We review what is known in each country of the Latin American region with regards to blindness and visual impairment and make some comparisons to Hispanic populations in the United States. Prevalence of blindness varied from 1.1% in Argentina to 4.1% in Guatemala in people 50 years of age and older, with the major cause being cataract. Diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are starting to make serious inroads, although epidemiological data are limited, and age-related macular degeneration is now a concern in some populations. Infectious diseases such as trachoma and onchocerciasis are quickly diminishing. Although progress has been made, retinopathy of prematurity remains the major cause of childhood blindness. If VISION 2020 is to succeed, many more epidemiological studies will be needed to set priorities, although some can be of the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness design. Developing the infrastructure for screening and treatment of ophthalmic disease in Latin America continues to be a challenge. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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            The prevalence of low vision and blindness in Canada.

            D Maberley, M Witzigmann, K Bassett … (2006)
            The purpose of this study was to ascertain the prevalence and primary causes of visual impairment in a representative Canadian population. We reviewed a representative sample of patients who attended ophthalmologists' offices in a medium-sized Canadian city between 1996 and 2001 in order to estimate the prevalence of visual impairment. Demographic data, visual diagnoses, best-corrected visual acuities (BCVA), and visual field information were recorded. Visual status was categorized based on accepted World Health Organization (WHO) and North American criteria. Population data were obtained from the Canadian census. The prevalence of low vision and blindness in our population was 35.6 and 3.8 per 10 000 individuals, according to the WHO classification, and 71.2 and 23.6 per 10 000 individuals, using the North American definition. Among individuals with some vision loss (vision worse than 20/40), cataract and visual pathway disease were the most common causes, together accounting for 40% of visual impairment. Age-related macular degeneration and other retinal diseases were the next most common causes of vision loss. Diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma were less frequently encountered as causes of visual impairment. The overall prevalence of low vision and blindness in Canada are in keeping with data from large population-based studies from other developed nations. Cataract, visual pathway disease, and macular degeneration are the leading causes of visual impairment. These results are important for enhancing our understanding of the scope of vision health in Canada and may direct future health planning and cost-utilization research.
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              Prevalence and causes of visual impairment among Saudi adults attending primary health care centers in northern Saudi Arabia

              Farhan Al-Shaaln, Marwan Bakrman, Adel Ibrahim … (2011)
              BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Few studies have been conducted in Saudi Arabia to estimate the prevalence of visual impairment and its causes. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of visual impairment, and identify its causes and associated factors among the adult population attending primary health care (PHC) centers in Aljouf province, in northern Saudi Arabia. DESIGN AND SETTING: A cross-sectional study during the year 2005 in PHC centers in Aljouf province in northern Saudi Arabia PATIENTS AND METHODS: A sample of 620 Saudi adults, of age 18 years and older, from the catchment area of the Aljouf PHC centers, were randomly selected through a multistage random sampling technique. Data were collected using a questionnaire about socioeconomic and related information and a visual acuity test was performed using the Snellen chart (E). Diagnosis was established according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Visual impairment was categorized into blindness for a visual acuity of less than 3/60 (20/400, 0.05) in the better eye with the best correction and low vision for a best corrected visual acuity of less than 6/18 (20/60, 0.3) but not less than 3/60 (20/400, 0.05) in the better eye. Regression analysis was used to identify the predictors of visual impairment. RESULTS: Of 617 adult Saudis interviewed and examined, 269 (43.6%) were females. The mean (SD) age was 38.6 (16.2) years. The overall prevalence of visual impairment was 13.9% (95% CI: 11.4%-16.9%). The main medical causes of visual impairments were refractive errors (36.0%) followed by cataract (29.1%) and diabetic retinopathy (20.9%), and the least leading cause was glaucoma (5.8%). The most prominent determinants of visual impairment were age (P<.05), sex (P<.001), and a history of previous eye injury (P<.05). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of visual impairment in the study population from the Aljouf area is high. It is recommended that regular checks of visual acuity be conducted for all Saudis of age 50+ years, who attend the PHC centers.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Pak J Med Sci
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Pak J Med Sci
                Title: Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences
                Publisher: Professional Medical Publications (Pakistan )
                ISSN (Print): 1682-024X
                ISSN (Electronic): 1681-715X
                Publication date (Print): Jan-Feb 2017
                Volume: 33
                Issue: 1
                Pages: 167-171
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Dr. Mujeeb Ur Rehman Parrey, Ph.D. Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
                [2 ]Dr. Farhan Khashim Alswelmi, M.D. Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
                Author notes
                Correspondence: Dr. Mujeeb Ur Rehman Parrey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail: drparrey@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                Publisher ID: PJMS-33-167
                DOI: 10.12669/pjms.331.11871
                PMC ID: 5368301
                PubMed ID: 28367193
                SO-VID: 0a00cf11-fa12-4c9d-8f43-6315292a9825
                Copyright © Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences
                License:

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 10 November 2016
                Date accepted : 24 January 2017
                Categories
                Subject: Original Article

                Keywords: visual impairment,blindness,refractive error,cataract,diabetic retinopathy
                Data availability:
                Keywords: visual impairment, blindness, refractive error, cataract, diabetic retinopathy

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