Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Apr;90(4):407-10.
doi: 10.1136/bjo.2005.081406.

Prevalence and causes of blindness in the rural population of the Chennai Glaucoma Study

L Vijaya  1 , R George, H Arvind, M Baskaran, P Raju, S V Ramesh, P G Paul, G Kumaramanickavel, C McCarty
Affiliations

Prevalence and causes of blindness in the rural population of the Chennai Glaucoma Study

L Vijaya et al. Br J Ophthalmol. 2006 Apr.

Abstract

Aim: To study the prevalence and causes of blindness in a rural south Indian population.

Methods: 3924/4800 enumerated (81.75%) subjects, aged 40 years or more from rural Tamil Nadu, underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examination-visual acuity, refraction, intraocular pressure, gonioscopy, cataract grading (LOCS II), retinal examination, and SITA Standard where indicated. Blindness was defined using WHO criteria as best corrected visual acuity of less than 3/60 and/or visual field of less than 10 degrees in the better eye. The influence of age, sex, literacy, and occupation was assessed using multiple logistic regression.

Results: 753 subjects (19.2%; 321 males, 432 females) presented with a visual acuity of <3/60; 132 subjects (3.36%, 95% CI: 2.80 to 3.93) were diagnosed to be blind. Cataract was responsible in 74.62% of eyes; glaucoma, cystoid macular oedema, optic atrophy, and corneal scars accounted for 3.79% each. Bilateral causes of blindness were cataract (78.63%), glaucoma (4.29%), optic atrophy (3.42%), cystoid macular oedema, and corneal scars (2.56% each). In 19 eyes (7.2%) the blindness was probably related to cataract surgery. Blindness was positively associated with increasing age (p<0.0001).

Conclusion: 3.36% of the studied rural population was bilaterally blind, with cataract being the single most important cause.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Resnikoff S, Pascolini D, Etya'ale D.et al Global data on visual impairment in the year 2002. Bull World Health Organ 200482844–851. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dandona L, Dandona R, Naduvilath T J.et al Burden of moderate visual impairment in an urban population in southern India. Ophthalmology 1999106497–504. - PubMed
    1. Dandona L, Dandona R, Srinivas M.et al Moderate visual impairment in India: the Andhra Pradesh Eye Disease Study. Br J Ophthalmol 200286373–377. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dandona L, Dandona R, Srinivas M.et al Blindness in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 200142908–916. - PubMed
    1. Thulisiraj R D, Nirmalan P K, Ramakrishnan R.et al Blindness and vision impairement in a rural south Indian population: the Aravind Comprehensive Eye Survey. Ophthalmology 2003110491–498. - PubMed

Publication types