Prevalence and associated factors of vision loss in the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1)

Abstract

Background Vision loss is a major public health concern that significantly affects developing countries, including South Africa. Although existing literature have reported on the prevalence, causes, and impact of vision loss on the quality of life of affected individuals (children and adults) in parts of South Africa, there is no evidence of the prevalence and associated factors of vision loss in the general population. Hence, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of vision loss and its associated factors in South Africa using a population-based survey. Methods Secondary analyses were conducted using data from the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (SANHANES-1), a population-based national health survey conducted from 2011 to 2012. Vision loss was defined as presenting visual acuity (PVA) worse than Snellen 6/12 in the better eye. Visual acuity was assessed by clinicians and participants’ subjective response to vision-related questions. Univariate and multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the association of the independent variables with vision loss. Results The analytic sample comprised 4346 individuals with a mean age of 39.1 years. Female sex accounted for 55.6% of the participants. The prevalence of vision loss among participants was 9.2% (95% CI: 7.7–10.9). Older age (45–54 years, OR = 2.99, p < 0.001; 55–64 years, OR = 5.78, p < 0.001 and ≥ 65 years, OR = 5.12, p < 0.001), female sex (OR = 1.50, p = 0.016), and previous diabetes diagnosis (OR = 2.28, p = 0.001) were significantly associated with increased odds of vision loss. Further, secondary school education (OR = 0.71, p = 0.031), white ethnicity (OR = 0.11, p = 0.007), residing in Mpumalanga province (OR = 0.12, p < 0.001) and having never had an eye examination (OR = 0.56, p = 0.003) were significantly associated with reduced odds of vision loss. Conclusion Almost one in ten participants had vision loss. Adopting strategies targeted at reducing barriers to the utilization of eye care services will promote early detection and management of blinding conditions, and thereby, decrease the burden of vision loss in South Africa.

Vision loss, vision difficulty and psychological distress in South Africa: results from SANHANES-1

“…Despite vision loss being an important determinant of psychological distress, a condition characterized by emotional suffering with accompanying symptoms of anxiety, depression and nervousness, its prevalence is alarmingly high among the South African populace [ 13 ]. Also, mental distress exacerbates the treatments and prognosis of ocular diseases and cause ascendency in the burden of vision loss [ 14 ].…”

“…Also, most of these studies were limited to the assessments of participants by clinicians and not by participants’ subjective response to vision-related questions. Given that one tenth of South Africans experience vision loss [ 13 ], the outcomes of this nationwide study may provide substantive evidence to accentuate the need for mental health assessment for the visually impaired/blind. Furthermore, this study will contribute substantially to raise awareness of the importance of addressing co-occurring visual disorders and psychological health problems in South Africa, which will improve the quality of life of affected individuals.…”

Refractive prediction of four different intraocular lens calculation formulas compared between new swept source optical coherence tomography and partial coherence interferometry

“…Hence, when using the same IOL diopter, a relatively myopic tendency may be observed in the SS-OCT results ( Table 3 ). In a previous study comparing other SS-OCT (CASIA2 and IOLMaster 700), the corneal curvature was measured relatively small in ANTERION [ 21 ]. In this study, the corneal power difference of about 0.1 D is about 0.14 D in the IOL plane, assuming the IOL plane to the corneal plane equivalent to the power conversion factor is about 0.69 [ 22 ].…”

Multiple Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Testing Improves the Prediction of Diabetic Retinopathy Risk with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

“…Microangiopathy is associated with increased damage in different organs, thus promoting retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. Oxidative stress and inflammation on vascular alterations were found to affect DR development [ 32 , 33 ]. Obesity plays an important role in microvascular dysfunction as well [ 34 ].…”