ABSTRACT
Background Blindness and low vision represent significant public health issues in China.Late diagnosis is the major reason for the irreversible vision impairment.A feasible,cost-effective screening and referral program is very important for the eye health care,prevention and treatment of blindness in China.Objective This study was to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a health examination center-based opportunistic eye disease screening program.Methods This was a cross-sectional study.Subjects undergoing a routine physical examination at the health examination center of the Fourth People's Hospital of Shenyang were invited to attend this program.Presenting visual acuity,intraocular pressure,and nonmydriatic fundus photography were obtained.Optic diso photographs were evaluated independently by two ophthalmologists.Blindness and moderate to severe vision impairment were defined based on the criteria of World Health Organization Visual Impairment Classification in 2009.Glaucoma,diabetic retinopathy (DR) and other suspected eye diseases were diagnosed according to the fundus photography and intraocular pressure.This study was approved by Ethic Committe of the Fourth People's Hospital of Shenyang,the informed consent of each subject was obtained.Results Totally,15 303 subjects were enrolled and 15 197 of them finished the exanimations,giving a response rate of 99.3％.The overall percentage of blindness and moderate to severe visual impairment was 0.08％ (12/15 197) and 2.34％ (355/15 197).Two hundred and twenty-eight (1.50％) subjects were defined as glaucoma suspects and 80 individuals (0.53％) were diagnosed as epimacular membrane.Other suspected eye diseases included DR (0.41％),branchial retinal vessel occlusion (0.24％),macular degeneration (0.09 ％),and macular hole (0.06％).More than 95 ％ of the eye disease suspects have never been previously diagnosed or treated.A total of 358 subjects (2.36％) were defined as ocular hypertension suspects.Conclusions This health examination center-based opportunistic eye disease screening shows a good efficiency and feasibility.It may become an optional program in the national eye health care project,as well as the work of prevention and treatment of blindness.
ABSTRACT
Background: Asians from the Indian Subcontinent form the largest ethnic minority in the United Kingdom. Data on the prevalence of visually-impairing eye conditions in this population are vital for planning eye health care services. Materials and Methods: This survey was based in the two London boroughs with the largest Asian populations. Subjects originating from the Indian Subcontinent were identified from GP practice records. All subjects were asked about demographic details and were given a full ophthalmological examination. The severity of cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related maculopathy was recorded. Blindness was defined as logMAR visual acuity of 0.99 (Snellen equivalence 20/200 in the better eye) or worse, ‘low vision’ was defined as Snellen equivalence of 20/63 or worse (logMAR 0.5 or higher), and visual impairment was defined as visual acuity worse than 20/40. Results: The median age was 56 years. Two hundred and eighty four subjects did not attend for eye examination. Of the 922 examined, 128 subjects (13.9%) were ‘visually impaired,’ 39 (4.2%) had ‘low vision,’ and 6 (0.7%) were bilaterally blind. The overall prevalence of cataract, open-angle glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy were 77%, 1.0%, 8.7%, and 8.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Visual impairment rates amongst Asians seem to be similar to Caucasian populations in the UK. The prevalence of cataract and diabetic retinopathy is higher, while the risk of ARMD and OAG are comparable. In view of the high cataract prevalence, a more detailed assessment of the visual profile and factors limiting healthcare accessibility in this community are needed.