Mehari Zelalem Addisu, Zewedu Redda Tekle Haimanot, Gulilat Fitsum Bekele
Department of Ophthalmology, Grarbet Eye Hospital, Butajira, Ethiopia.
Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2013 Jul-Sep;20(3):229-33. doi: 10.4103/0974-9233.114798.
The aim of this study was to assess the factors that delay surgical intervention in patients suffering from age related mature cataract in Ethiopia.
A short term descriptive study was performed that evaluated patients with mature cataract presenting to outreach eye care clinics in rural central Ethiopia. Patients were interviewed to determine the reasons for delay in their cataract surgeries.
A total of 146 subjects (57 male and 89 females) with operable age related cataract were evaluated at 31 outreach clinics. Over 86% of the respondents were above 55 years of age, (range, 45-78 years). The male to female ratio was 1:1.5 and 30.2% of the subjects were blind bilaterally (best corrected visual acuity <3/60). The majority of the respondents were farmers (53.4%) and 86.3% were illiterate. The major factors that delayed cataract surgery included: Cost of surgery (91.8%), insufficient family income (78.1%), good vision in the fellow (unaffected) eye (39.7%), and the distance to hospital from their village (47.9%).
Surgical cost, insufficient family income, and the distance to an eye care centre were the major factors delaying cataract surgery in rural Ethiopia.
本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚年龄相关性成熟白内障患者延迟手术干预的因素。
进行了一项短期描述性研究，评估了埃塞俄比亚中部农村地区外展眼科诊所的成熟白内障患者。对患者进行访谈以确定其白内障手术延迟的原因。
在31个外展诊所对总共146名（57名男性和89名女性）患有可手术年龄相关性白内障的受试者进行了评估。超过86%的受访者年龄在55岁以上（范围为45 - 78岁）。男女比例为1:1.5，30.2%的受试者双眼失明（最佳矫正视力<3/60）。大多数受访者是农民（53.4%），86.3%为文盲。延迟白内障手术的主要因素包括：手术费用（91.8%）、家庭收入不足（78.1%）、对侧（未受影响）眼视力良好（39.7%）以及村庄到医院的距离（47.9%）。
手术费用、家庭收入不足以及到眼科护理中心的距离是埃塞俄比亚农村地区延迟白内障手术的主要因素。
