Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto and Annals of African Medicine Society
Abstract
Background: A population based, rapid assessment for cataract blindness
was conducted in Ughelli North local government area of DeltaState, an
urban/rural area of Nigeria between June and July 2001 with the aim of
establishing baseline data for developing cataract intervention
services for the area. Method: A cluster random sampling method was
used based on the guidelines for the Rapid Assessment for Cataract
Surgery. A total of 8 clusters of 90 persons were randomly selected
from the 8 communities that make up the Ughelli clan. Only people of 50
years and above who had been resident in the area for up to six months
were included. A total of 684 persons were examined (91.2% coverage)
using a designed survey form. The barriers to the uptake of cataract
surgery were also identified during the survey. The WHO definitions of
blindness and visual impairment according to visual acuity were used as
criteria for classification of visual blindness and visual impairment.
Results: The prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness (cataract
causing visual acuity of less than 3/60 in the better eye) for people
of 50 years and above was 4.1% (95% CI: 2.96 to 5.24%) with cataract
accounting for 41.2% of all the blindness in this age group. Prevalence
of cataract blindness was higher in females than in males (5.0% versus
3.6%) About 80% of the cataract blindness occurs in people of 70 years
and above. The cataract surgical coverage for eyes was 4.5%; cataract
surgical coverage for couching was 18.2%. The major barriers to the
uptake of cataract surgical services were lack of awareness of eye care
services in nearby district (71.0%), the imagined high cost of the
services (17.9%) the perception of women that their health problems are
not of immediate importance (7.1%). Conclusion:At the time of study
about 2000 person required immediate cataract surgery in the area. With
an estimated incidence of 400 new cases per year, there is a need to
set up cataract surgical services in the Ughelli North local government
area. Special attention should be given to reduction of cataract
blindness in females