Abstract

Background: Visual impairment caused by cataract is a major cause of treatable blindness. Vision 2021: the Right to Sight, a global initiative launched by a coalition of non-government organization and the World health Organization (WHO), is to eliminate avoidable visual impairment and blindness on a global scale. In order to accomplish this goal it is important to know the prevalence of disabling cataract in community, especially in developing countries.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of disabling cataract in Swat who need surgery.

Settings: Conducted at free eye camps in seven Tehsils of Swat, KPK.

Duration: 4 months from September 2018 to January 2019.

Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive study using convenient sampling method for sample collection. The selection criteria was patients having cataract of any age and of any gender. The exclusion criteria was no perception of light in the eye, mental retardation, psychiatric illness and physically handicap or too young patients unable to undergo slit lamp examination. Retro illumination technique was adopted on the slit lamp to detect presence and type of cataract according to Lens Opacity Classification System III (LOCS III). Demographic data and ocular examination were recorded on a proforma and was analyzed using SPSS version 22.

Results: The disabling cataract was estimated to be 17.5% in patients with a mean age of 62.28 ± 9.10 years. The most common type of cataract was found to be nuclear followed by posterior sub capsular. Bilateral cataract was found in 31.3% of the females.

Conclusion: The prevalence of disabling cataract in swat region is high leading to high rate of reversible blindness in the region. Specific measures should be taken by the health authorities to address the problem.

Keywords: Cataract; Swat; Blindness

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Citation

Citation: Yasir Iqbal Malik., et al. “Disabling Cataract in Swat; How Big is the Problem?".Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 4.6 (2021): 49-52.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2021 Yasir Iqbal Malik., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.