Cataract Blindness in Armenia: The Results of Nationwide Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB)

ABSTRACT

Purpose

This study assessed the prevalence of cataract blindness, cataract surgical coverage (CSC), effective CSC, visual outcome after cataract surgery, and barriers to cataract surgery in a population aged 50 years and older in Armenia using Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) methodology.

Methods

The study sample included 2258 individuals aged 50 years and older who were randomly selected from 11 provinces of Armenia in 2019 following the RAAB methodology. The study team randomly selected 50 clusters, 50 people in each. The RAAB survey form was used to collect information on cataract blindness, visual outcome after cataract surgery, and barriers to cataract surgery.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 65.3 (SD = 9.9) ranging from 50 to 99. The majority of participants were women (65.6%). Age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of blindness due to all causes was 1.5%; of which 36.4% was bilaterally blind due to cataract. The CSC and effective CSC at a cataract surgical threshold of <6/12 were 55.1% and 24.4%, respectively. Good outcome was reported in 43.7% of eyes after cataract surgery, borderline in 37.2% of eyes, and poor outcome in 19.1%. The main barriers to cataract surgery included “cost,” “need not felt,” or “fear.”

Conclusion

The prevalence of cataract blindness in our study was higher compared to high-income regions and lower than estimates from South/Southeast Asia. This study suggests the urgent need to update the National Strategic Plan to prevent blindness in Armenia with a focus on improving the quality and coverage of cataract surgery.

KEYWORDS:

• Barriers to cataract surgery
• cataract blindness
• effective cataract surgical coverage
• population aged over 50 years
• visual outcome after cataract surgery

Acknowledgments

We are thankful to the study participants for their support during the implementation of the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author [AG] upon reasonable request.

Financial support

The study was supported by the Lions Club International Foundation Research Grant.

Geo loca tion infor mation

We carefully selected the title, short title, and keywords to make our work more discoverable.

Submission statement

This submission has not been published anywhere previously and that it is not simultaneously being considered for any other publication. The paper previously has not been reviewed and rejected by another journal.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09286586.2023.2248627.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Lions Club International Foundation Research Grant. We have included this information under the “Financial support.”