Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the prevalence and causes of visual impairment among adults aged 60 and above in Nantong city, China.
Methods
A stratified random sampling was used to select the people from eight communities in Xinchengqiao administrative sub-district of Nantong. The eye examinations were conducted at the community activity centres. The definitions of visual impairment were based on the pinhole visual acuity (low vision: visual acuity <6/18 to 3/60 in the better eye; blindness: visual acuity <3/60 in the better eye). Prevalence of visual impairment based on presenting visual acuity was also calculated. Both univariate and multiple analysis were used to do the statistics.
Results
A total of 3040 (90.69%) out of 3352 enumerated subjects participated in the survey. The prevalence of blindness and low vision based on the pinhole visual acuity was 1.35% (presenting, 1.32%) and 1.84% (presenting, 6.05%) respectively. The prevalence of blindness and low vision grew up exponentially with age (R2=0.9993, F=1385.84, P=0.0007; R2=0.9949, F=195.65, P=0.0051) and down with increasing education level (score test for trend of odds: χ2=30.35, P=0.0000; χ2=22.31, P=0.0000), and was higher among women than men (LR χ2=9.62, P=0.0019; LR χ2=5.14, P=0.0234).
Conclusions
Blindness and low vision were prevalent in the urban area of China, especially in the elderly women, with cataract the most common cause in the Chinese elderly. Therefore, our study highlights an urgent necessity for launching some programs for blindness and low vision prevention, especially on the early treatment of cataract.
Similar content being viewed by others
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
References
Flaherty JH, Liu ML, Ding L, Dong B, Ding Q, Li X et al. China: the aging giant. J Am Geriatr Soc 2007; 55 (8): 1295–1300.
Guan H, Gong Q, Miao B, Chen B, Cao J, Liu H et al. Inquires about methods of primary eye care and prevention of blindness. Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi 2001; 37: 9–11.
Zhao J, Jia L, Sui R, Zhang C, Xiang L, Zhang H et al. Prevalence of blindness among adults aged 50 years or above in Shunyi county of Beijing. Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi 1999; 35: 341–347.
Michon JJ, Lau J, Chan WS, Ellwein LB . Prevalence of visual impairment, blindness, and cataract surgery in the Hong Kong elderly. Br J Ophthalmol 2002; 86: 133–139.
Van Herick W, Shaffer RN, Schwartz A . Estimation of width of angle of anterior chamber: incidence and significance of the narrow angle. Am J Ophthalmol 1969; 68: 626–629.
ICD-10. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision. In: Johnson GJ, Minassian DC, Weale R (eds). The Epidemiology of Eye Disease. Chapman & Hall Medical: London, 1998; 8–30.
Buch H, Vinding T, La Cour M, Nielsen NV . The prevalence and causes of bilateral and unilateral blindness in an elderly urban Danish population. The Copenhagen City Eye Study. Acta Ophthalmol Scand 2001; 79: 441–449.
Dandona L, Dandona R, Srinivas M, Giridhar P, Vilas K, Prasad MN et al. Blindness in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2001; 42: 908–916.
StataCorp. Stata Statistical Software: Release 8.0. Stata Corporation: College Station, TX, 2001.
Xu L, Wang Y, Li Y, Wang Y, Cui T, Li J et al. Causes of blindness and visual impairment in urban and rural areas in Beijing: the Beijing Eye Study. Ophthalmology 2006; 113: 1134–1141.
Zou H, Zhang X, Xu X, Wang W, Li G, Yu H et al. An epidemiological survey of low vision and blindness of senile persons in Beixinjing blocks, Shanghai. Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi 2002; 38: 744–746.
Hou B, De J, Wu H, Gesang D, Bu P, Qiangba S et al. Prevalence of blindness among adults aged 40 years or above in Linzhou county of Lasa. Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi 2002; 38: 589–593.
Xu J, He M, Wu K, Li S . The vision distribution and causes of blindness in elderly population in Doumen county. Zhonghua Yan Ke Za Zhi 1999; 35: 348–351.
Hsu WM, Cheng CY, Liu JH, Tsai SY, Chou P . Prevalence and causes of visual impairment in an elderly Chinese population in Taiwan: the Shihpai Eye Study. Ophthalmology 2004; 111: 62–69.
Thylefors B, Negrel AD, Pararajasegaram R, Dadzie KY . Global data on blindness. Bull World Health Organ 1995; 73: 115–121.
Thylefors B, Negrel AD, Pararajasegaram R, Dadzie KY . Available data on blindness (update 1994). Ophthalmic Epidemiol 1995; 2: 5–39.
Khandekar R, Mohammed AJ, Negrel AD, Riyami AA . The prevalence and causes of blindness in the Sultanate of Oman: the Oman Eye Study (OES). Br J Ophthalmol 2002; 86: 957–962.
Fotouhi A, Hashemi H, Mohammad K, Jalali KH . The prevalence and causes of visual impairment in Tehran: the Tehran Eye Study. Br J Ophthalmol 2004; 88: 740–745.
Dineen BP, Bourne RR, Ali SM, Huq DM, Johnson GJ . Prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment in Bangladeshi adults: results of the National Blindness and Low Vision Survey of Bangladesh. Br J Ophthalmol 2003; 87: 820–828.
Moser CL, Martin-Baranera M, Vega F, Draper V, Gutiérrez J, Mas J . Survey of blindness and visual impairment in Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. Br J Ophthalmol 2002; 86: 257–260.
Muñoz B, West SK, Rubin GS, Schein OD, Quigley HA, Bressler SB et al. Causes of blindness and visual impairment in a population of older Americans: The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study. Arch Ophthalmol 2000; 118: 819–825.
Pararajasegaram R . VISION 2020—the right to sight: from strategies to action. Am J Ophthalmol 1999; 128: 359–360.
Thylefors B . A global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness. Am J Ophthalmol 1998; 125: 90–93.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Bureau of Public Health, Disabled Persons' Federation of Nantong City and the government of the Xinchengqiao sub-district for their support and cooperation in facilitating the implementation of this research. We also thank Haihong Shi, Zhenggao Xie, Qinjin Chen, Jianquan Sun, Lili Yin, and Xiaoming Gao for data collection, and Wei Liu and Xiaohu Gu for data entry.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, L., Guan, H., Xun, P. et al. Prevalence and causes of visual impairment among the elderly in Nantong, China. Eye 22, 1069–1075 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2008.53
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2008.53
