Human cataract prevalence study in the district of Alappuzha

Abstract

Aim:-Hospital based study from April 2005 to March 2011 conducted among the population to determine the prevalence of cataract in Alappuzha district of Kerala state of India. Methodology:-The data's collected from registers of ophthalmology department of district hospital and two private hospitals in Alappuzha district to access the gender prevalence and prevalence of different age groups. The total number of cataract operation carried in Alappuzha district was collected from Directorate of Health, Thiruvananthapuram to evaluate the prevalence among the total population Significance were analysed using student's t-test (mat lab). Result:-Among the total population cataract prevalence in Alappuzha district was significantly (p=0.0010) increased from 0.26% to 0.37% within six years. Gender prevalence is significantly higher in females (60.6%,p=0.0000344) than in males, suggest that more cataract patients are females. A significantly highest prevalence recorded in the age group of 61-70 years (40.2%,p=0.000044) compared with all other age groups. Conclusion:-The present study of cataract prevalence in Alappuzha district may to some extend throw light on the gravity of cataract incidence in Kerala state. Cataract blindness in Kerala can be effectively controlled only if effective strategies are developed to reduce the incidence of blinding cataract.