Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project

Arie Y Nemet1, Pinhas Nemet2, Geoff Cohn3, Gina Sutton, Gerald Sutton4, Richard Rawson41Department of Ophthalmology, Sydney Hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, Australia; 2Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel; 3Departments of Ophthalmology, University of New South Wales, Syd...

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Autores principales:	Arie Y Nemet, Pinhas Nemet, Geoff Cohn et al.
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Dove Medical Press 2009
Materias:	Ophthalmology RE1-994
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/16eccf95e21c44ae9ed793af306b98a8
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:16eccf95e21c44ae9ed793af306b98a82021-12-02T01:30:02ZCauses of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project1177-54671177-5483https://doaj.org/article/16eccf95e21c44ae9ed793af306b98a82009-07-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.dovepress.com/causes-of-blindness-in-rural-myanmar-burma-mount-popa-taung-kalat-blin-a3377https://doaj.org/toc/1177-5467https://doaj.org/toc/1177-5483Arie Y Nemet1, Pinhas Nemet2, Geoff Cohn3, Gina Sutton, Gerald Sutton4, Richard Rawson41Department of Ophthalmology, Sydney Hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, Australia; 2Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel; 3Departments of Ophthalmology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; 4Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, AustraliaPurpose: This study is a review of the major causes of visual impairment (VI) and severe visual impairment/blindness (SVI/BL) in Mount Popa Taung-Kalat, a rural region in Myanmar (Burma).Methods: A review of our clinical records of consecutive patients attending clinics was conducted. Participants of all ages (n = 650) of the population of Mount Popa Taung-Kalat and villages in its vicinity underwent ophthalmic interview and a detailed dilated ocular evaluation by trained Australian ophthalmologists and ophthalmic nurses. This evaluation included anterior segment examination with a slit lamp, intraocular pressure recording, and direct or indirect ophthalmoscopy. VI and SVI/BL were defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Results: Six hundred fifty subjects were screened, with a mean age of 49.0 &plusmn; 20.6 years (range, 1&ndash;99). One hundred five patients (16.2%) were children (ages 1&ndash;18). Five hundred thirty-one eyes of the total 1,300 eyes (39.5%) had VI/SVI/BL, and 40 eyes of the children (38.1%) (average age 15.3 &plusmn; 13.3) had VI/SVI/BL. The leading causes of VI/SVI/BL were cataract with 288 cases (54.2%), glaucoma with 84 cases (15.8%), and corneal pathology with 78 cases (14.7%). Of all the VI/SVI/BL cases, 8.4% were preventable, 81.9% were treatable, and total of 90.5% were avoidable.Conclusions: In the current study, cataracts were the major cause of blindness and visual impairment, and most of the ophthalmic pathology causing blindness is avoidable. These results highlight the lack of basic ophthalmologist eye care and optician resources in rural regions in Myanmar.Keywords: blindness, visual loss, cataract, Myanmar, Burma, epidemiology study Arie Y NemetPinhas NemetGeoff Cohn et al.Dove Medical PressarticleOphthalmologyRE1-994ENClinical Ophthalmology, Vol 2009, Iss default, Pp 413-421 (2009)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Ophthalmology RE1-994
spellingShingle	Ophthalmology RE1-994 Arie Y Nemet Pinhas Nemet Geoff Cohn et al. Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project
description	Arie Y Nemet1, Pinhas Nemet2, Geoff Cohn3, Gina Sutton, Gerald Sutton4, Richard Rawson41Department of Ophthalmology, Sydney Hospital and Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, Australia; 2Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel; 3Departments of Ophthalmology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; 4Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, AustraliaPurpose: This study is a review of the major causes of visual impairment (VI) and severe visual impairment/blindness (SVI/BL) in Mount Popa Taung-Kalat, a rural region in Myanmar (Burma).Methods: A review of our clinical records of consecutive patients attending clinics was conducted. Participants of all ages (n = 650) of the population of Mount Popa Taung-Kalat and villages in its vicinity underwent ophthalmic interview and a detailed dilated ocular evaluation by trained Australian ophthalmologists and ophthalmic nurses. This evaluation included anterior segment examination with a slit lamp, intraocular pressure recording, and direct or indirect ophthalmoscopy. VI and SVI/BL were defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Results: Six hundred fifty subjects were screened, with a mean age of 49.0 &plusmn; 20.6 years (range, 1&ndash;99). One hundred five patients (16.2%) were children (ages 1&ndash;18). Five hundred thirty-one eyes of the total 1,300 eyes (39.5%) had VI/SVI/BL, and 40 eyes of the children (38.1%) (average age 15.3 &plusmn; 13.3) had VI/SVI/BL. The leading causes of VI/SVI/BL were cataract with 288 cases (54.2%), glaucoma with 84 cases (15.8%), and corneal pathology with 78 cases (14.7%). Of all the VI/SVI/BL cases, 8.4% were preventable, 81.9% were treatable, and total of 90.5% were avoidable.Conclusions: In the current study, cataracts were the major cause of blindness and visual impairment, and most of the ophthalmic pathology causing blindness is avoidable. These results highlight the lack of basic ophthalmologist eye care and optician resources in rural regions in Myanmar.Keywords: blindness, visual loss, cataract, Myanmar, Burma, epidemiology study
format	article
author	Arie Y Nemet Pinhas Nemet Geoff Cohn et al.
author_facet	Arie Y Nemet Pinhas Nemet Geoff Cohn et al.
author_sort	Arie Y Nemet
title	Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project
title_short	Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project
title_full	Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project
title_fullStr	Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project
title_full_unstemmed	Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project
title_sort	causes of blindness in rural myanmar (burma): mount popa taung-kalat blindness prevention project
publisher	Dove Medical Press
publishDate	2009
url	https://doaj.org/article/16eccf95e21c44ae9ed793af306b98a8
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Causes of blindness in rural Myanmar (Burma): Mount Popa Taung-Kalat Blindness Prevention Project

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