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Tytuł:
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Prevalence of visual impairment in El Salvador: inequalities in educational level and occupational status.
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Autorzy:
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Rius A; UNESCO Chair in Visual Health and Development, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Terrassa, Spain, .
Guisasola L; UNESCO Chair in Visual Health and Development, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Terrassa, Spain, .
Sabidó M; TransLab Research Group, Department of Medical Sciences, Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain.
Leasher JL; College of Optometry, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, United States of America.
Moriña D; Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Barcelona, Spain.
Villalobos A; School of Medicine, Universidad de El Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador.
Lansingh VC; International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Querétaro, Mexico.
Mujica OJ; Pan American Health Organization, District of Columbia, United States of America.
Rivera-Handal JE; Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Zacami, San Salvador, El Salvador.
Silva JC; Pan American Health Organization, Bogotá, Colombia.
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Źródło:
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Revista panamericana de salud publica = Pan American journal of public health [Rev Panam Salud Publica] 2014 Nov; Vol. 36 (5), pp. 290-9.
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Typ publikacji:
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Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Język:
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English
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Imprint Name(s):
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Original Publication: Washington, D.C. : Pan American Health Organization, [1997?-
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MeSH Terms:
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Healthcare Disparities*
Vision Disorders/*epidemiology
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Blindness/epidemiology ; Educational Status ; El Salvador/epidemiology ; Eye Diseases/epidemiology ; Female ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupations ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Visual Acuity
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Entry Date(s):
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Date Created: 20150122 Date Completed: 20161213 Latest Revision: 20220408
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Update Code:
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20240104
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PMID:
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25604098
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Objective: To examine the prevalence of blindness, visual impairment, and related eye diseases and conditions among adults in El Salvador, and to explore socioeconomic inequalities in their prevalence by education level and occupational status, stratified by sex.
Methods: Based upon the Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) methodology, this nationwide sample comprised 3 800 participants (3 399 examined) ≥ 50 years old from 76 randomly selected clusters of 50 persons each. The prevalence of blindness, visual impairment and related eye diseases and conditions, including uncorrected refractive error (URE), was calculated for categories of education level and occupational status. Multiple logistic regression models were fitted to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and stratified by sex.
Results: Age-adjusted prevalence was 2.4% (95% CI: 2.2-2.6) for blindness (men: 2.8% (95% CI: 2.5-3.1); women: 2.2% (95% CI: 1.9-2.5)) and 11.8% (95% CI: 11.6-12.0) for moderate visual impairment (men: 10.8% (95% CI: 10.5-11.1); women: 12.6% (95% CI: 12.4-12.8)). The proportion of visual impairment due to cataract was 43.8% in men and 33.5% in women. Inverse gradients of socioeconomic inequalities were observed in the prevalence of visual impairment. For example, the age-adjusted OR (AOR) was 3.4 (95% CI: 2.0-6.4) for visual impairment and 4.3 (95% CI: 2.1-10.4) for related URE in illiterate women compared to those with secondary education, and 1.9 (95% CI: 1.1-3.1) in cataract in unemployed men.
Conclusions: Blindness and visual impairment prevalence is high in the El Salvador adult population. The main associated conditions are cataract and URE, two treatable conditions. As socioeconomic and gender inequalities in ocular health may herald discrimination and important barriers to accessing affordable, good-quality, and timely health care services, prioritization of public eye health care and disability policies should be put in place, particularly among women, the unemployed, and uneducated people.
