Statistic for cataract

Rural or urban area- visual impairment
In the National Eye Survey Malaysia conducted in 1996, the prevalence of visual impairment in Malaysia was found to be 2.7% which was higher in rural areas (2.9%) than in urban areas (2.5%).
Prevalence of visual impairment in rural population in Selangor state has been reported to be varying from 5.6% to 18.9% .

PREVALENCE OF EYE DISEASES AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT IN URBAN POPULATION

A STUDY FROM UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA MEDICAL CENTRE -2003
One thousand one hundred and sixty-nine (1169) patients were examined in the Eye Clinic of University of Malaya Medical Centre over a period of three weeks. The mean age of patients was 63.10 ± 13.21 years (range 6-87 years). Cataract (385, 32.9%) was the most common eye disease seen in our study followed by glaucoma (274, 23.4%). Refractive errors ( children) were seen in 126 (10.8%) while diabetic retinopathy was noted in 113 (9.7%) patients.
Among the 385 cataract patients, 229 were men (59.5%) and 156 were women (40.5%); Diabetes was present in 112 (29.1%), hypertension in 72 (18.7%), and ischemic heart diseases in 24 (6.2%) patients with cataract.

Limitations of study
What do u think is problems in that studies??
The number of patients in our study was too small to give accurate prevalence rate of different eye diseases in urban population in Malaysia.
Includes both new and follow-up cases, hence chronic eye diseases are over represented compared to acute diseases
The patients attending the eye clinic do not represent the whole population in the society because some people who have eye diseases might have attended other eye clinics in the city of Kuala Lumpur

World Health Survey
age related cataract is responsible for 48% of world blindness, which represents about 18 million people.
Y cataract still prevalent though it can be surgically removed? Many countries surgical services are inadequate, and cataract remains the leading cause of blindness
As people in the world live longer, the number of people with cataract is growing
long period spent waiting for operations and barriers to surgical uptake, such as cost, lack of information, and transportation problems.

Prevalence of cataract
Data from Australia show that this prevalence doubles with each decade of age after 40year s, so that everyone in their nineties is affected
Over the next 20year s, it is estimated that the world’s population will increase by about one third. This growth will occur predominantly in developing areas. During the same period, the number of people over 65 years of age will more than double (8).
If nothing else alters, these demographic changes will lead to a doubling in the amount of cataract, visual morbidity, and need for cataract surgery.
The current 20mill ion people with severely reduced vision of 3/60or worse as a result of cataract will have swelled to 40million by the year 2020(