Profile of cataract surgery in Varamin Iran: a population-based study

Background Cataract is the most popular cause of blindness. This study addresses some aspects of cataract surgery in an Iranian population. Design A cross-sectional study. Participants 3000 adults over 50 in Varamin district. Methods Cataract surgical coverage was defined as the proportion of (pseudo) aphakic eyes of all operable and operated eyes with cataract. If there was obvious lens opacity in either or both eyes in combination with best corrected visual acuity less than 6/18, the person was asked why the operation for cataract was not done to find out about barriers of cataract surgery. Outcomes of cataract surgery were categorized as good, intermediate and poor using presenting visual acuity which were defined as visual acuity 6/18, 6/60 visual acuity <6/18 and visual acuity <6/60, respectively. Main Outcome Measures Cataract surgical coverage, barriers and outcomes of cataract surgery. Results Out of 5638 examined eyes, 526 eyes (9.3%) had history of cataract surgery. 156 subjects (45.7%) had a unilateral and 185 subjects (54.2%) had bilateral operated eyes. Cataract surgical coverage was 66.4% in visually impaired eyes (visual acuity < 6/18), 90.4% in blind eyes (visual acuity < 3/60), 80.5% in visually impaired persons and 97.6% in blind persons. Cataract surgery in the majority of eyes (71.9%) had a good visual outcome. The main barrier of cataract surgery was unawareness of treatment. Conclusion Overall, the cataract services in the studied population were acceptable, although it should be improved, to achieve vision 2020 objectives.