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. 2022 Mar;100(2):183-188.
doi: 10.1111/aos.14768. Epub 2021 Mar 5.

Socio-economic status in families affected by childhood cataract

Moug Al-Bakri  1 , Daniella Bach-Holm  1   2 , Dorte Ancher Larsen  3 , Volkert Siersma  4 , Line Kessel  1   2
Affiliations
Free article

Socio-economic status in families affected by childhood cataract

Moug Al-Bakri et al. Acta Ophthalmol. 2022 Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the socio-economic status of families affected by childhood cataract and to assess how the socio-economic status is affected by cataract diagnosis.

Materials and methods: Children born between 2000 and 2017, seen between the age 0 and 10 years in the same period at Rigshospitalet or Aarhus University Hospital for cataract (N = 485), were included and compared to a matched children group without cataract (N = 4358). Socio-economic status was evaluated by the parents' income, employment, education, marital status and family structure.

Results: Parents of children with cataract were more likely to have a low yearly income (OR = 1.60, 95% CI (1.12-2.27)), be out of work (OR = 1.74, 95% CI (1.34-2.26)) and have basic education as the highest attained education (OR = 1.64, 95% CI (1.27-2.13)) prior to diagnosis. This social gradient was not affected by the diagnosis. In addition, a higher number of children with cataract lived in multi-family residencies (13.8% versus 8% in group of children without cataract) and they had a greater number of siblings (6.2% had ≥4 siblings versus 2.1% in group of children without cataract).

Conclusion: Families affected by childhood cataract have a lower socio-economic status and educational background even before cataract is diagnosed but the diagnosis does not aggravate the differences between these families and the background population. The lower socio-economic status and parental educational background should be taken into consideration in the management of these families.

Keywords: childhood cataract; congenital cataract; socio-economic status.

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References

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