Prevalence of Cataract Blindness and Barriers to Cataract Surgical Uptake in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria
| Main Authors: | Umar S M, Alhassan M B, Habib S G |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article Journal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/5576489 |
Daftar Isi:
- AIM: To determine the cataract blindness and barriers to cataract surgical uptake in Birnin Gwari Local government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. METHOD: Rapid method of assessing avoidable blindness was used (RAAB) in the study to determine the prevalence of senile related cataract in the community. It was a population-based cross-sectional study. A total of 2162 out of 2530 registered eligible subjects were examined. Two-stage cluster random sampling was used to select 59 clusters in 40 villages, in each cluster 50 subjects aged 40 years and above were selected using probability proportional to the size. Registration of all eligible subjects includes name, age and sex followed by visual acuity testing (unaided and aided). Subjects with VA of < 6/18 were examined further with pen torch and direct ophthalmoscope to determine the cause of poor vision. Subjects with cataract were asked further the reasons why they did not have cataract surgery. Data was recorded in modified RAAB questionnaire form and analysis was done using SPSS version 16.0 program (SPSS Inc., Illinois, USA). A chi-square test was used to compare the cost of surgery as a barrier and the prevalence of cataract blindness between males and females. A value of p < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The prevalence of bilateral cataract blindness was found to be 4.7% (95% CI 4.5%-5.3%). Cost was found to be the major barrier to uptake of cataract surgery in this study. It was responsible for up to (34.7%) of causes. Lack of awareness of where to get surgery (20.1%), unaware of the existence of treatment (13.1%) and waiting for maturity (12.9%) were the other major barriers. CONCLUSION: Cost is a major barrier to poor uptake of cataract surgery services in the study area despite collaborative efforts that include cataract surgery outreach. Extensive health education about cataract, the benefits of surgery and free cataract outreach programmes should be promoted.