Use of cataract surgery in urban Beijing: a post screening follow-up of the elderly with visual impairment due to age-related cataract / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the perception for the use of cataract surgical services in a population of acceptors and non-acceptors of cataract surgery in urban Beijing.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From a community-based screening program a total of 158 patients with presenting visual acuity of less than 6/18 on either eye due to age-related cataract were informed about the possibility of surgical treatment. These patients were interviewed and re-examined 36 to 46 months after initial screening. The main reasons for not accepting surgery were obtained using a questionnaire. Vision function and vision-related quality of life scores were assessed in those who received and did not receive surgery.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At the follow-up examination 116 of the 158 patients were available and 36 (31.0%) had undergone cataract surgery. Cases who chose surgery had higher education level than those who did not seek surgery (OR=2.64, 95% CI: 1.08-6.63, P=0.02). There were no significant differences in vision function (P=0.11) or quality of life scores (P=0.16) between the surgery group and the non-surgery group. Main reasons for not having surgery included no perceived need (50.0%), feeling of being "too old" (19.2%), and worry about the quality of surgery (9.6%). Cost was cited by 1 (1.9%) subject as the main reason for not seeking surgery.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The data suggest that in China's capital urban center for patients with moderate visual impairment there is a relative low acceptance rate of cataract surgery, mainly due to people's perception of marginal benefits of surgery. Cost is not a determining factor as barrier to undergo surgery and patients with poorer education are less likely to undertake surgery.</p>

Gonioscopy and ultrasound biomicroscopy in the detection of angle closure in patients with shallow anterior chamber / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the agreement between gonioscopy and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) in detecting angle closure in Chinese patients with shallow anterior chamber.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>An observational comparative study of the two different examination methods was conducted. Patients with normal intraocular pressure and temporal peripheral anterior chamber depth less than a quarter of corneal thickness based on slit lamp examination were included in this study from December 2007 to May 2009 in the outpatient clinic of First Hospital of Tsinghua University. Gonioscopy was performed with a Goldman goniolens in dark room first and followed by full beam light and indentation. If the filtering trabecular meshwork was invisible or any peripheral anterior synechia was found, that quadrant of the angle was considered closed. UBM was first undertaken in a darkened room then repeated with normal room lighting. If iridotrabecular apposition was showed, that quadrant of the angle was considered closed. The status of angle closure of each quadrant with different methods was recorded.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>85 eyes of 46 patients were included in this study. The agreement between gonioscopy and UBM was poor (Κ<0.4) with Kappa analysis in both dark and light conditions in each quadrant. The accordance of agreement between gonioscopy and UBM was hardly affected by age or sex, while in dark condition, eyes with deeper anterior chamber (P=0.005) or plateau iris configuration tended to produce different results (P=0.075) in the 2 methods.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Gonioscopy and UBM are both indispensable methods for detecting angle closure, neither can completely replace the other.</p>

Comparison between ophthalmologists and community health workers in screening of shallow anterior chamber with oblique flashlight test / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the agreement between ophthalmologists and community health workers in detecting shallow anterior chamber with oblique flashlight test.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 425 subjects were given an eye examination in a community health center. The anterior chamber depth of each subject was examined by one ophthalmologist and two trained community health workers (one nurse and one non-professional health worker) using oblique flashlight test. Inter-observer agreement was determined using the weighted kappa statistic.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among the enrolled subjects, 148 (35%) were male and 277 (65%) were female. Good agreement was noted in all the three observers. The comparison between the ophthalmologist and the nurse showed a kappa statistic of 0.42 for both eyes (P < 0.001). The kappa statistic was 0.54 and 0.52 for right and left eyes respectively between the ophthalmologist and the non-professional health worker (P<0.001). As for agreement between the nurse and the non-professional health, worker, the kappa statistic was 0.49 and 0.38 for right and left eyes, respectively (P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The oblique flashlight test may be used as an applicable tool by trained community health workers for screening of shallow anterior chamber and play a role in blindness prevention in community.</p>

An epidemiological study of visual disability and visual rehabilitation in Beijing / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the status of visual disability and the demands for visual rehabilitation services in Beijing.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Five hundred and fifty-five persons with visual disability in Beijing from the Second National Survey on Disability of China were involved in this study. Their visual disability and demands for rehabilitation were evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>About three fourth of the visual disabled persons were over 60 years of age. Cataract, retinal and choroidal diseases, and glaucoma were the three leading causes of the visual impairment. Medical service was the number one (82.0%) demand for the persons with visual disability, although 89.4% of them had previously received some kinds of medial services. People who had received visual aid devices or rehabilitation training were 26.7% and 5.8%, respectively, while more people showed their demand for these service (36.6% and 11.9%, respectively). The demand for visual rehabilitation varied in different groups of age and severity of disability.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Accessibility of high quality medical services for preventable blindness diseases should be further promoted. Public health education on visual rehabilitation is also needed.</p>

A cross-sectional study on prevalance and risk factors of disabilities in aged 0-6 years children in Beijing, China / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the epidemiological status of disabilities on vision impairment (VI), hearing loss (HL), mental retardation (MR), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and motor disorder (MD) in aged 0-6 years old children in Beijing.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 28 738 children under 7 years old were recruited from permanent residents of Beijing City by 2-phase cluster sampling. The screening procedure was 2-phase, and the diagnosis criteria were developed by the experts group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The overall disability rate was 11.45 per thousand (95 % CI:10.22-12.68). The false negative rates in HL and ASD were 0.14 per thousand, 0.80 per thousand, respectively, with a adjusted overall rate of 12.19per thousand. The prevalence rates of different kind disabilities from high to low were MR 9.31per thousand, MD 2.12per thousand, ASD 1.53per thousand (0.73per thousand before adjusted), HL 1.04per thousand (0.91per thousand before adjusted) VI 0.73per thousand. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that the possible non-biological risk factors for those disabilities were being male, living in city area, advancing age, mother with low education, mother engaged in labor work, and family with low income. It was primarily (49.62%) those prenatal factors other them the known suspected factors that causing disabilities.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Compared with data from a countrywide study in 1987, the overall disability rate had a mild decrease (16.36%) with the most (56.85%) appeared in HL. It is indispensable to establish a disabilities surveillance program for the early recognition and intervention of children with disabilities. It is also crucial to clarify a disability definition for children combined with their characteristics of growth and development. We strongly recommended in developing a new definition on children' disabilities and establishing new criteria according to the contents of developmental disabilities of Center for Disease Control, USA.</p>

Visual fields changes in chronic angle closure glaucoma patients after their intraocular pressures were well controlled / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the progression of visual field loss and to explore the prognosis of glaucomatous optic neuropathy in patients with chronic angle-closure glaucoma (CACG) after their intraocular pressures were well controlled under 21 mmHg.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-seven eyes of 29 patients in the Department of Ophthalmology in PUMC Hospital were included. All the patients had at least two separate tests of visual fields using the 24-2 program of the Humphery Visual Field Analyzer after their intraocular pressure were well controlled under 21 mmHg after sugery. The visual fields of patients were followed routinely for at least 1 year. In addition, all patients were divided into 2 groups according to follow-up period: 1-2 years group and over 2 years group. Visual field scores were calculated with the Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) method. The visual fields were divided 5 sections and the sensitivity and defect depth of each section were calculated.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>No statistically significant differences were found in terms of AGIS scores, localized sensitivities and localized defects within the time interval of the observation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Glaucomatous optic neuropathy is not likely to progressively deteriorate in CACG cases once their intraocular pressure are well controlled under 21 mmHg.</p>

Static and dynamic contrast sensitivity of myopic eyes before and after laser in situ keratomileusis / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the static and dynamic contrast sensitivity changes in myopic patients before and after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-three eyes in 37 patients with myopia (with or without astigmatism) who received LASIK were tested for static and dynamic contrast sensitivities using the METRO VISION MON ELEC I system at 0.7, 1.4, 2.7, 5.5, 11, and 22 cpd and cps prior to LASIK, and at one-, three-, and six-month intervals after LASIK.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All eyes gained naked visual acuity of more than 0.5 after LASIK. The contrast sensitivity was depressed at all frequencies 1 month after LASIK, as compared to one week prior to LASIK. The depression at 2.7, 5.5, 11 (P < 0.01) and 22 cpd (P < 0.05) was statistically significant for static contrast sensitivity, and also at 5.5 (P < 0.01) and 11 cps (P < 0.05) for dynamic contrast sensitivity. Myopic eyes between 6.25 D and 14.0 D, and astigmatic eyes 2 DC and more, suffered more static and dynamic contrast sensitivity depression than the myopic eyes between 1.25 D and 6.00 D and astigmatic eyes less than 2 DC. Contrast sensitivities were improved and exceeded preoperative levels 3 months after LASIK, and improved even more 6 months after LASIK. All sequences were statistically significant for static contrast sensitivity (P < 0.01), while only 2.7, 5.5, and 11 cps were statistically significant for dynamic contrast sensitivity (P < 0.01). The astigmatic eyes 2 DC and more showed less improvement, even below the preoperative level at 1.4 cps of dynamic contrast sensitivity.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>While temporary depression of contrast sensitivity for myopic eyes after LASIK was seen, contrast sensitivity soon returned to exceed preoperative levels at 3 months after LASIK, while improving even more 6 months after LASIK.</p>