Colombian Ocular Diseases Epidemiology Study (CODES): Prevalence and Sociodemographic Characterization of Refractive Errors in Colombian Eye Care Consultations

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To estimate the prevalence and demographic characteristics of uncorrected refractive errors (URE) in people who attended eye care consultations in Colombia between 2015 and 2019, using the National Health Registry data.

Methods

We identified ICD codes for myopia (H-52.1), degenerative myopia (H-44.2), hyperopia (H-52.0), and astigmatism (H-52.2) from the Integrated Social Protection Information System. Crude prevalence rates by age and sex were calculated for the population attending eye care services during these years. Additionally, we developed a standardized morbidity map across county departments.

Results

In Colombia, the prevalence of URE among eye care consultations was 30.26%, increasing from 30.39% in 2015 to 35.14% in 2019. Of the 1,579,778 cases analyzed, 60.9% were females. Astigmatism emerged as the most prevalent URE, predominantly seen in individuals under 40 years old. Myopia showed the highest prevalence in the 10–30 age group, whereas hyperopia was most prevalent in the first decade of life. Geographically, the Andean region recorded most of URE cases, while more remote areas have seen a rising morbidity risk in recent years.

Conclusions

The rising trend of URE in Colombia and its demographic and geographical variations underscores the urgent need for health professionals and government authorities to acknowledge and address this issue. This study provides crucial insights into the refractive error landscape across the country, highlighting the necessity for prevention programs specifically designed to cater to the country’s unique needs.

KEYWORDS:

• Epidemiology
• ophthalmology
• population-based study
• public health
• refractive errors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contributions

All authors: Conception and design of the study, data acquisition, analysis, interpretation of data, drafting the article, revising it critically for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version to be submitted. Alejandra de-la-Torre MD, PhD: Thematic authority, conception, design of the study, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data drafting the article, revising it critically for important intellectual content, final approval of the version to be submitted.

Data availability statement

Data is available upon reasonable request.

Ethics approval

This study adheres to the ethical principles for human research established by the Helsinki Declaration, the Belmont Report, and Colombian Resolution 008430 of 1993. According to the risks contemplated in resolution 8430 from 1993, this investigation is considered without risks. The information in the databases used in this article is freely accessible and available for research. In the same way, their coding system ensures data confidentiality.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09286586.2024.2330386.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.