Trends in outpatient cataract surgery in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2006–2010

This study aimed to determine the trends in outpatient cataract surgery and its determinants in the Islamic Republic of Iran between 2006 and 2010. In this cross-sectional study, 106 cataract surgery centres were selected in all provinces by multistage randomized cluster sampling. The number of centres in each province was determined from the number of cataract operations and the number of patient charts examined in each centre was proportionate to the number of cataract operations in that centre. The prevalence of outpatient surgery increased from 46.0% [95% CI, 35.3-56.8] in 2006 to 51.4% [95% CI, 40.2-62.7] in 2010 [P = 0.549]. Patients stayed in hospital for more than one night after 10.5% [95% CI, 6.9-14.1] of operations. Use of phacoemulsification and topical anaesthesia increased the prevalence of outpatient surgery and decreased intraoperative complications. Although outpatient cataract surgery increased by 11.7%, use of methods such as phacoemulsification is not widespread, and more attention should be paid to the barriers to outpatient cataract surgery in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Contributions of public and private sectors to the Iranian cataract surgery output

This study determined trends in the contributions of the public and private sectors to the cataract surgery output in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Data about cataract surgeries performed at surgical centres throughout the nation were extracted from patient charts for a 5-year period from 2006 to 2010. Of the total 516 273 surgeries performed in 2010, more were done in public sector centres [61.7%] than private ones [38.3%]. The total number of surgeries increased by 59.1% between 2006 and 2010. Analysis of the relative contributions of the public and private sectors showed a 41.0% increase in surgeries in public centres and 100.5% in private centres over the 5-year period. Thus the rate of growth of cataract surgery in the private sector was 2.7 times greater than that in the public sector. Despite a smaller contribution to the total number of cataract surgeries, the private sector has experienced a substantial rate of growth

[ rate of cataract surgery in Khorasan Razavi, 2006-2010]

To determine the trend of the cataract surgical rate in Khorasan Razavi Province between 2006 and 2010. Five centers were randomly selected from the cataract surgery centers of Khorasan Razavi Province. Using the definition of more than 3000 cataract surgeries per year for a major center, 3 centers were major and 2 were minor. One week of each season was randomly selected for each center and the number of cataract surgeries in that particular week was calculated. A total of 20 weeks for each center were selected. Finally, a percentage of the records, proportionate to the number of surgeries per week, were thoroughly analyzed. The total number of cataract surgeries was estimated 21388, 22750, 23888, 28063, and 30100 from 2007 to 2011, respectively. The cataract surgical rate, considering the population of Khorasan Razavi province, increased linearly from 3782 [95% CI 3732-3833] in 2007 to 5021 [95% CI 4965-5078] in 2011 per 1,000,000 people. In addition, the types of surgeries were intracapsular, extracapsular, phacoemulsification, lensectomy in which were recorded as 0.3%, 15.1%, 84.56%, and 0.1% of the cases, respectively. During the five years of the study, phacoemulsification increased significantly from 74.7% in 2007 to 90.4% in 2011 while the extracapsular method decreased from 14.7% to 9.2% in the same period of time. About 0.87% of the surgeries developed intraoperative complications. This study reported the cataract surgical rate in Khorasan Razavi province exclusively for the first time. The calculated rate was noticeably better than previous reports and was desirable and acceptable according to the WHO standards. However, with regard to the increase in the elderly population of the province, the rate should be even higher to cover all individuals requiring cataract surgery. Therefore, provision of the cataract surgery facilities, especially for the phacoemulsification, and education of this method should receive priority in the health system of this province