AlThani Mohammed, Abdulmalik Mariam, AlAbdulla Samya, AlMotawaa Kholoud, Algadi Halla, Rabiu Muhammad, McCormick Ian, AlAshwal Shadi
Ministry of Public Health, Doha, Qatar.
Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Ophthalmic Res. 2025;68(1):137-145. doi: 10.1159/000543721. Epub 2025 Jan 21.
This study is a population-based investigation into the prevalence and causes of blindness and vision impairment (VI) among people aged 50 years and older living in the State of Qatar.
A Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) methodology, applied from May 2022 to June 2023, utilized stratified two-stage cluster random sampling to select 5,060 persons aged 50 years and older resident in Qatar from 145 communities chosen by probability proportional to size. Communities were stratified by Qatari and non-Qatari nationality. Participants were examined by ophthalmologists in primary health centers. Data collection was through the RAAB7 Android application and supervised by a trainer using secure, encrypted cloud storage.
Of the 3,206 participants examined, 14 (0.4%) had blindness and 10 (0.3%) had severe VI. Compared to a previous RAAB study in 2009, the prevalence of blindness (presenting visual acuity [VA] <3/60) decreased from 1.28% to 0.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.2-0.7%). The age-sex-adjusted prevalence of all VI (presenting VA <6/12-NPL) was 9.7% (95% CI: 8.3-11.1), higher among females 12.6% (95% CI: 10.5-14.6), and Qataris 16.7% (95% CI: 14.4-19.1), compared to males 7.6% (95% CI: 6.3-9.0), and non-Qataris 6.3% (95% CI: 5.1-7.5). The principal causes of blindness included diabetic retinopathy (DR) (33.3%), cataract (20%), glaucoma (13%), and other posterior segment diseases (13%). All VI was mainly attributed to uncorrected refractive errors at 58% and cataract at 17%, with the former being more common among non-Qataris and cataract more prevalent among Qataris.
Our findings show a low prevalence of VI compared with many countries that have published VI data. VI was mainly caused by DR, cataract, and uncorrected refractive error. Further reduction in vision loss can be achieved with early detection and improved access using innovation and technology.
本研究是一项基于卡塔尔国50岁及以上人群的盲症和视力损害（VI）患病率及病因的调查。
采用快速可避免盲症评估（RAAB）方法，于2022年5月至2023年6月进行，利用分层两阶段整群随机抽样，从按规模比例概率选取的145个社区中选出5060名居住在卡塔尔的50岁及以上人群。社区按卡塔尔和非卡塔尔国籍分层。参与者在初级卫生保健中心由眼科医生进行检查。数据收集通过RAAB7安卓应用程序进行，并由一名培训人员使用安全、加密的云存储进行监督。
在接受检查的3206名参与者中，14人（0.4%）患有盲症，10人（0.3%）患有严重视力损害。与2009年之前的一项RAAB研究相比，盲症（呈现视力[VA]<3/60）的患病率从1.28%降至0.4%（95%置信区间（CI）：0.2 - 0.7%）。所有视力损害（呈现VA<6/12 - 无光感）的年龄 - 性别调整患病率为9.7%（95% CI：8.3 - 11.1），女性中为12.6%（95% CI：10.5 - 14.6），卡塔尔人中为16.7%（95% CI：14.4 - 19.1），相比之下男性为7.6%（95% CI：6.3 - 9.0），非卡塔尔人为6.3%（95% CI：5.1 - 7.5）。盲症的主要病因包括糖尿病视网膜病变（DR）（33.3%）、白内障（20%）、青光眼（13%）和其他后段疾病（13%）。所有视力损害主要归因于未矫正的屈光不正，占58%，白内障占17%，前者在非卡塔尔人中更常见，白内障在卡塔尔人中更普遍。
我们的研究结果表明，与许多已公布视力损害数据的国家相比，视力损害的患病率较低。视力损害主要由糖尿病视网膜病变、白内障和未矫正的屈光不正引起。通过创新和技术进行早期检测并改善可及性，可进一步减少视力丧失。
