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This study assessed the prevalence of cataract blindness, cataract surgical coverage (CSC), effective CSC, visual outcome after cataract surgery, and barriers to cataract surgery in a population aged 50 years and older in Armenia using Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) methodology. The study sample included 2258 individuals aged 50 years and older who were randomly selected from 11 provinces of Armenia in 2019 following the RAAB methodology. The study team randomly selected 50 clusters, 50 people in each. The RAAB survey form was used to collect information on cataract blindness, visual outcome after cataract surgery, and barriers to cataract surgery. The mean age of the participants was 65.3 (SD = 9.9) ranging from 50 to 99. The majority of participants were women (65.6%). Age- and sex-adjusted prevalence of blindness due to all causes was 1.5%; of which 36.4% was bilaterally blind due to cataract. The CSC and effective CSC at a cataract surgical threshold of <6/12 were 55.1% and 24.4%, respectively. Good outcome was reported in 43.7% of eyes after cataract surgery, borderline in 37.2% of eyes, and poor outcome in 19.1%. The main barriers to cataract surgery included "cost," "need not felt," or "fear." The prevalence of cataract blindness in our study was higher compared to high-income regions and lower than estimates from South/Southeast Asia. This study suggests the urgent need to update the National Strategic Plan to prevent blindness in Armenia with a focus on improving the quality and coverage of cataract surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and main causes of blindness and visual impairment in population aged 50 years and older in Armenia using Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) methodology. The study team randomly selected 50 clusters (each consisting of 50 people) from all 11 regions of Armenia. Data on participants' demographics, presenting visual acuity, pinhole visual acuity, principal cause of presenting visual acuity, spectacle coverage, uncorrected refractive error (URE), and presbyopia were collected using the RAAB survey form. Four teams of trained eye care professionals completed data collection in 2019. Overall, 2,258 people of 50 years and older participated in the study. The age- and gender- adjusted prevalence of bilateral blindness, severe and moderate visual impairment were 1.5% (95% CI: 1.0–2.1), 1.6% (95% CI: 1.0–2.2) and 6.6% (95% CI: 5.5–7.7), respectively. The main causes of blindness were cataract (43.9%) and glaucoma (17.1%). About 54.6% and 35.3% of participants had URE and uncorrected presbyopia, respectively. The prevalence of bilateral blindness and functional low vision increased with age and was the highest in participants 80 years and older. The rate of bilateral blindness was comparable with findings from countries that share similar background and confirmed that untreated cataract was the main cause of blindness. Given that cataract blindness is avoidable, strategies should be developed aiming to further increase the volume and quality of cataract care in Armenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the association of quality of life (QoL) with ocular structure and function in glaucoma patients, and to identify which aspects of QoL are most closely tied to Visual Field (VF) and Visual Acuity (VA). Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of studies on QoL in glaucoma patients using PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar (from 1 January 1997 to 7 December 2019). A total of 21 studies in the United States that used the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ) or 51-item NEI VFQ were included. A descriptive analysis of data from the selected studies was conducted. The association between QoL scores and visual function and structure was investigated by ranking the strength of association on a scale from 1 (weakest) to 12 (strongest). Results: Studies reported correlations between QoL scores and Visual Structure. Associations were also reported between QoL and Visual Function both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, with a stronger association of VF and VA with distance activities (average ranking 9.1 and 9.6), vision-specific dependency (8.7 and 8.9), and driving (8.6 and 9.7). Vision-specific mental health (6.5 and 4.9), vision-specific social functioning (8.4 and 6.2), and vision-specific role difficulties (7.1 and 6.6) domains were more associated with VF than with VA. Conclusion: Our study was the first to quantify and rank the strength of association between visual function and QoL domains. Driving and psycho-social QoL domains tended to be most affected by glaucoma-related deterioration of visual function. QoL scores could be used for more patient-centered disease management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]