Blindness and vision impairment in the elderly of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

The identification and treatment of refractive error and cataract need to be priorities for eye health services in Papua New Guinea if the burden of vision impairment and blindness is to be diminished. The education of community and hospital eye care providers, whether medical, nursing or other cadres, must emphasize these. Eye care services must be structured and provided to allow and encourage accessibility and uptake, with satisfactory treatment outcomes for these conditions.

Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness in Papua New Guinea: a nationwide survey

“…Although not significant, this is higher than the previous estimation of 3.9% (95% CI 3.4% to 6.1%) 4. However, comparisons are to be taken with caution as this survey recruited individuals from all provinces within PNG, while the previous survey recruited individuals who were from one urban and one rural community.…”

“…Previously, untreated cataract was reported to cause 73.2% of blindness 4. When compared with this study (81.8% in NCD and 91.0% in Coastal regions), the difference could be a reflection of the more remote and rural locations surveyed where accessibility to cataract services are likely to be limited.…”

“…The latest vision-related epidemiological study in PNG was conducted over 10 years ago and established a high prevalence of vision impairment (29%) and blindness (3.9%) in older adults 4. However, the study was only conducted in areas within and surrounding PNG’s capital, Port Moresby.…”

Prevalence and causes of vision loss in Southeast Asia and Oceania: 1990–2010

“…There is less gender difference in MSVI where uncorrected refractive error is the main cause of vision loss. This situation is shown in data from a survey in Papua New Guinea where blindness due to cataract was 86.7% of the total in women, but 57.5% in men 19. For MSVI, there were no real differences between genders for cataract (M 42.8%, F 50.5%) and refractive error (M 43.3%, F 41%).…”

Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and diabetic retinopathy in people aged 50 years and older in the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea

“…Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a country of over 7 million within the Western Pacific (WP) region, a region that is reported to have high rates of vision impairment and blindness2 but is continually challenged in providing eye care services by limited resources 3 4…”